WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today gave the following opening remarks at a full committee hearing titled “Shared Threats: Indo-Pacific Alliances and Burden Sharing in Today’s Geopolitical Environment.” Witnesses included The Honorable Randall Schriver, Dr. Oriana Skylar Mastro, and Dr. Victor Cha.
Chairman Risch gave the following remarks:
“Over the past several years, we have seen China rapidly escalate its aggressive actions against Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, Australia, and other countries in the Indo-Pacific. China has positioned itself as America’s most significant long-term challenge. And that means in the short term, China’s military aggression in the Indo-Pacific should not go unchecked. China’s actions destabilize global security and disrupt global trade, which could impact Americans’ financial aspects. And, as demonstrated by China’s spy balloon, which invaded our sovereign airspace in 2023, China’s ambitions aren’t confined to Asia.
“China’s military is rapidly modernizing its shipbuilding capacity which is formidable, and its development of dual-use artificial intelligence is growing more advanced by the day. In this dangerous security environment, we and our allies need to help ourselves by increasing defense spending and building joint capabilities.
“China’s aggression should be confronted, but America should not be the world’s only watchdog. To counter Chinese aggression, we need our allies to work with us to ensure each of us is strong and capable of pushing back. Today’s hearing will focus on how we can build alliances that are fit and up to this task.
“America is well-positioned because we have a Commander in Chief who understands the need for a strong relationship with our Indo-Pacific allies. President Trump’s recent, successful summit with the Japanese Prime Minister, and his administration’s early focus on the Philippines, are proof of this. In his first term, President Trump deepened security cooperation with Taiwan, kept U.S.-Japan-South Korea intelligence sharing initiatives alive, and approved major arms transfers to Southeast Asian partners.
“We need to build on this work. Key to this is encouraging responsible and effective burden-sharing from our partners. This has been a decades-long, bipartisan initiative that has only become more pressing.
“South Korea has done great work here. Its defense spending grew consistently during the Cold War and beyond, always remaining well above 2 percent of its GDP. It now boasts a robust defense industry and is well-positioned to work with the U.S. on boosting our shipbuilding capacity. Japan’s defense spending remains comparably low, but it has taken important steps like acquiring counterstrike capabilities. And in Taiwan, double-digit defense spending increases must continue given the threat it faces across the Taiwan Strait.
“In addition to sharing the burden of defense, our allies need to expand U.S. basing and overflight access around the Indo-Pacific. The best way to show China that we stand together is if we are physically present in the region. The Philippines has shown itself to be a great partner in this regard since the signing of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. We need far more of this around the region.
“I look forward to hearing the witnesses’ thoughts on how to approach both burden sharing and access, basing, and overflight in Asia, and more specifically what role the State Department should play on these issues.
“The rise in military aggression from China is a threat to us all. If we do not use our alliances in the Indo-Pacific to a high standard, we do Americans and the people of the region a tremendous disservice.
“With that, thank you to the witnesses for being here. We have a good panel, we’re looking to hearing from them, and with that I recognize the ranking member.”
These remarks have been lightly edited for clarity. Witness testimony is available on foreign.senate.gov.
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