Indo-Pacific Nations Should Spend More on Defense to Counter China

These countries need to shoulder the majority of the responsibility to counter Chinese aggression against their ships, planes, and territorial rights.

In this image made from a video provided by the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea, a Chinese coast guard vessel, left, fires a powerful water cannon on a Philippine bureau of fisheries vessel near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea on Dec. 4, 2024. National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea via AP

Commentary

The increasingly aggressive actions of the Chinese regime in the South China Sea and China’s other near seas strongly attest to the need for those on the receiving end of Chinese aggressions to boost the percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) that they spend on national defense to levels comparable to those of the United States, about 3.4 percent.