China and the "BRICS" ready for war with the US and its allies [Canada etc..]

China and the "BRICS" ready for war with the US and its allies

 June 9  2022

https://www.cfc.forces.gc.ca/259/290/23/286/Gonthier.pdf

A Chinese Takeover of Taiwan Would Prompt Different Pentagon Response, Top Indo-Pacific Official Says

March 9, 2022 6:07 PM

The Pentagon’s senior civilian for the Indo-Pacific testified Wednesday that the United States’ response to the Chinese aggressively moving to take over Taiwan would be different from Washington’s reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ely Ratner, assistant secretary for Indo-Pacific security affairs, said when China is the “pacing competitor” in the region, “Taiwan is the pacing scenario.” Without going into details in an open hearing, he pointed to a number of security agreements between Taipei and Washington that differ from arrangements between the United States, NATO and Ukraine.

Adm. John Aquilino, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, termed the Russian invasion “a real wake-up call.” He added the United States and its allies and partners “have to look at it and say this can happen here.”

“U.S. policies [toward Taiwan] have not changed,” Ratner said.

Among those policies is assisting Taipei in “developing its own capabilities” to defend itself and sale of arms from advanced aircraft to enhance maritime security. Ratner also noted that United States helping to bring together the NATO and European Union’s response to the Russian invasion and willingness to impose severe economic sanctions on Moscow should be additional signals to China of what might happen if Beijing pursued a similar course.

Adm. John Aquilino, U.S. Pacific Fleet commander, speaks with 13 other heads of navies or their representatives from allied and partner nations throughout the Indo-Pacific region during a virtual key leader engagement to discuss outlooks and perspectives in this COVID-19 environment on Sept. 23, 2020. US Navy Photo

In his opening statement, Aquilino said China is running “a dedicated campaign … to uproot the rules-based order” that has existed in the Indo-Pacific since the end of World War II.

China is not just an immediate threat with its expressed ambitions to bring Taiwan under its control, but is continuing the “largest military build-up since World War II … across all domains,” Aquilino said. Its fleet is projected to number 460 surface warships and submarines by the end of the decade.

A People’s Liberation Army Navy J-15 carrier fighter takes off from Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning (16) during a December 2021 deployment. 

To deter Chinese or Russian aggression in the Indo-Pacific, he told the committee that the command participated in 120 military exercises in the past year despite the limitations imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. “You don’t surge trust” when a crisis arises.

Aquilino said allied and partner military leaders recognize the need to increase the complexity of the exercises to meet the changing threats posed by Chinese modernization, like its development of the fifth generation J-20 fighter. The example he used for complexity was the operations in the Indo-Pacific were the United Kingdom’s aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth II, with American carriers USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) and USS Carl Vinson (CVN-60) and the Japanese large deck warship Ise operating with F-35 Lightning II Strike Fighters and accompanied by 17 warships from six nations.

He called it “a pretty good example of deterrence.” It also showed to regional allies, like Japan, the importance other American allies, like the United Kingdom, the Netherland, Canada and others, place on the Indo-Pacific.

Aquilino added later in answer to another question that the exercise showed “how critical to operations in contested space” the F-35 can be.

On hypersonic weapons, Aquilino said his “real concern is the speed and pace they are showing up” in the Chinese arsenal and the threat they pose to the American homeland and Guam in particular.

He reminded the panel that defense of the island, home to large naval support facilities and a major Air Force base in the Indo-Pacific, remained his no. 1 unfunded priority.

As Congress was voting on whether to proceed with appropriating funds to buy 10 used cargo vessels to start revitalizing the nation’s sealift capability, Aquilino said an “aye” vote was especially important as the need for tankers for afloat fuel storage has increased. He was referring to Monday’s announcement that the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage facility is to be closed permanently within a year.

“We will go as fast as safety allows” in shutting down the facility following discovery of petroleum leakages had contaminated water flowing into military housing facilities and threatening Honolulu’s water system.

The Navy is looking for new facilities ashore and afloat to handle the petroleum bulk storage requirements for all services’ operations in the Indo-Pacific.

“We want to make sure we put [the ashore storage facilities] in the right place.”

List by the International Institute for Strategic Studies

According to International Institute for Strategic Studies^[2]

Flag	Country	Active military	Reserve military	Paramilitary	Total	Per 1,000 capita (total)	Per 1,000 capita (active)
	Afghanistan[3]	250,000	75,000	170,000	495,000	14.2	7.2
	Albania[4]	8,000	0	0	8,000	2.6	2.6
	Algeria[5]	130,000	150,000	187,200	467,200	11.2	3.1
	Angola[6]	107,000	0	10,000	117,000	3.9	3.5
	Antigua and Barbuda[7]	180	80	0	260	2.7	1.9
	Argentina[7]	72,100	0	31,250	103,350	2.3	1.6
	Armenia[8][Note 1][Note 2]	44,800	210,000	4,300	259,100	85.3	14.7
	Australia[9]	58,600	30,100	0	88,700	3.8	2.5
	Austria[10]	22,050	125,600	0	147,650	16.8	2.5
	Azerbaijan[11]	126,950	330,000	15,000	471,950	47	12.6
	Bahamas[12]	1,300	0	0	1,300	3.9	3.9
	Bahrain[13]	8,200	0	11,260	19,460	13.5	5.7
	Bangladesh[14]	163,050	0	63,900	226,950	1.4	1
	Barbados[15]	610	430	0	1,040	3.6	2.1
	Belarus[16]	45,350	289,500	110,000	444,850	46.7	4.8
	Belgium[17]	26,300	5,100	0	31,400	2.7	2.3
	Belize[15]	1,500	700	150	2,350	6.1	3.9
	Benin[18]	7,250	0	4,800	12,050	1.1	0.6
	Bolivia[19]	34,100	0	37,100	71,200	6.3	3
	Bosnia and Herzegovina[20]	10,500	0	0	10,500	2.7	2.7
	Botswana[21]	9,000	0	0	9,000	4	4
	Brazil[22]	366,500	1,340,000	395,000	2,101,500	10.1	1.8
	Brunei[23]	7,200	700	450	8,350	18.5	16
	Bulgaria[24]	36,950	3,000	0	39,950	5.7	5.2
	Burkina Faso[25]	11,200	0	250	11,450	0.6	0.6
	Burundi[26]	30,050	0	21,000	51,050	4.3	2.5
	Cambodia[27]	124,300	0	67,000	191,300	11.6	7.6
	Cameroon[28]	25,400	0	9,000	34,400	1.3	1
	Canada[29]	67,400	35,600	4,500	107,500	3	1.9
	Cape Verde[30]	1,200	0	0	1,200	2.1	2.1
	Central African Republic[31]	9,150	0	1,000	10,150	1.8	1.6
	Chad[32]	33,250	0	11,900	45,150	2.9	2.1
	Chile[33]	77,200	40,000	44,700	161,900	9	4.3
	People's Republic of China[34]	2,185,000	1,170,000	660,000	4,015,000	2.9	1.6
	Colombia[35]	293,200	34,950	187,900	516,050	10.7	6.1
	Costa Rica[36]	0	0	9,800	9,800	2	0
	Côte d'Ivoire[37][Note 3]	27,400	0	0	27,400	1	1
	Croatia[38]	15,200	18,350	3,000	36,550	8.6	3.6
	Cuba[39][Note 4]	49,000	39,000	1,146,500	1,234,500	110.9	4.4
	Cyprus[40]	15,000	50,000	750	65,750	53.1	12.1
	Czech Republic[41]	21,750	0	0	21,750	2	2
	Democratic Republic of the Congo[42]	134,250	0	0	134,250	1.6	1.6
	Denmark[43]	14,500	44,000	0	58,500	10.1	2.5
	Djibouti[44]	10,450	0	2,650	13,100	14.8	11.8
	Dominican Republic[45]	56,050	0	15,000	71,050	6.9	5.4
	East Timor[46]	2,280	0	0	2,280	1.7	1.7
	Ecuador[47]	40,250	118,000	500	158,750	9.6	2.4
	Egypt[48]	438,500	479,000	397,000	1,314,500	13.2	4.4
	El Salvador[49]	24,500	9,900	17,000	51,400	8.3	4
	Equatorial Guinea[50][Note 5]	1,450	0	0	1,450	1.8	1.8
	Eritrea[51]	201,750	120,000	0	321,750	53.9	33.8
	Estonia[52]	7,100	17,500	0	24,600	19.8	5.7
	Ethiopia[53]	138,000	0	0	138,000	1.3	1.3
	Fiji[54]	3,500	6,000	0	9,500	10.3	3.8
	Finland[55]	23,800	254,000	14,200	292,000	52.7	4.3
	France[56]	208,750	141,050	30,800	380,600	5.6	3.1
	Gabon[57]	4,700	0	2,000	6,700	3.2	2.2
	Gambia[58]	800	0	0	800	0.4	0.4
	Georgia[59]	20,650	0	5,400	26,050	5.3	4.2
	Germany[60]	183,500	50,050	0	233,550	2.9	2.3
	Ghana[61]	15,500	0	0	15,500	0.6	0.6
	Greece[62]	142,700	221,350	4,000	368,050	34.2	13.3
	Guatemala[63]	18,050	63,850	25,000	106,900	6.4	1.1
	Guinea[64]	9,700	0	2,600	12,300	1	0.8
	Guinea-Bissau[65]	4,450	0	0	4,450	2.4	2.4
	Guyana[66]	3,400	670	0	4,070	5.5	4.6
	Haiti[66]	150	0	50	200	0	0
	Honduras[67]	14,950	60,000	8,000	82,950	9	1.6
	Hungary[68]	27,800	20,000	12,000	59,800	6.1	2.8
	Iceland[69]	0	0	250	250	0.7	0
	India[70]	1,455,550	1,155,000	2,526,950	5,137,500	4	1.1
	Indonesia[71]	395,500	400,000	280,000	1,075,500	4.1	1.5
	Iran[72][Note 6]	610,000	350,000	40,000	1,000,000	12	7.3
	Iraq[73]	193,000	0	148,000	341,000	8.5	4.8
	Ireland[69]	9,500	4,050	0	13,550	2.7	1.9
	Israel[74]	169,500	465,000	8,000	642,500	76.3	20.1
	Italy[75][Note 7]	165,500	18,300	175,750	359,550	5.8	2.7
	Jamaica[76]	3,950	980	0	4,930	1.8	1.4
	Japan[77]	247,150	56,000	14,350	317,500	2.5	2
	Jordan[78]	100,500	65,000	15,000	180,500	17.3	9.6
	Kazakhstan[79]	39,000	0	31,500	70,500	3.8	2.1
	Kenya[80]	24,100	0	5,000	29,100	0.6	0.5
	Kosovo[81]	5,000	3,000	1,500	9,500	5	2.6
	Kuwait[82]	17,500	23,700	7,100	48,300	16.6	6
	Kyrgyzstan[83]	10,900	0	9,500	20,400	3.5	1.9
	Laos[84]	29,100	0	100,000	129,100	17.8	4
	Latvia[85]	6,210	15,900	0	22,110	11.5	3.2
	Lebanon[86]	60,000	0	20,000	80,000	13.1	9.8
	Lesotho[87]	2,000	0	0	2,000	1	1
	Liberia[88]	2,010	0	0	2,010	0.4	0.4
	Libya[89][Note 8]	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Lithuania[90]	19,850	6,700	14,400	40,950	14.7	7.1
	Luxembourg[91]	900	0	600	1,500	2.5	1.5
	Madagascar[92]	13,500	0	8,100	21,600	0.8	0.5
	Malawi[92]	10,700	0	4,200	14,900	0.8	0.5
	Malaysia[93][Note 9]	113,000	51,600	267,200	431,800	13.6	3.6
	Mali[94]	13,000	0	7,800	20,800	1.1	0.7
	Malta[95]	1,950	180	0	2,130	4.7	4.3
	Mauritania[96]	15,850	0	5,000	20,850	5.4	4.1
	Mauritius[97]	0	0	2,550	2,550	1.9	0
	Mexico[98]	216,000	81,500	111,900	409,400	3.3	1.7
	Moldova[99]	5,150	58,000	900	64,050	18.6	1.5
	Mongolia[100]	9,700	137,000	7,500	154,200	49.7	3.1
	Montenegro[101]	2,350	0	10,100	12,450	20.3	3.8
	Morocco[102]	195,800	150,000	50,000	395,800	11.5	5.7
	Mozambique[97]	11,200	0	0	11,200	0.4	0.4
	Myanmar[103]	406,000	0	107,000	513,000	9.2	7.3
	Namibia[104]	9,900	0	6,000	15,900	6.3	3.9
	Nepal[105]	96,600	0	15,000	111,600	3.8	3.3
	Netherlands[106]	35,400	4,500	5,900	45,800	2.7	2.1
	New Zealand[107]	9,000	2,300	0	11,300	2.5	2
	Nicaragua[108]	12,000	0	0	12,000	2	2
	Niger[109]	5,300	0	5,400	10,700	0.5	0.3
	Nigeria[110]	143,000	0	80,000	223,000	1.1	0.7
	North Korea[111][Note 10]	1,280,000	600,000	5,889,000	7,769,000	306.1	50.4
	North Macedonia[112]	8,000	4,850	7,600	20,450	9.7	3.8
	Norway[113]	23,250	40,000	0	63,250	11.8	4.3
	Oman[114]	42,600	0	4,400	47,000	13.5	12.2
	Pakistan[115]	654,000	550,000	291,000	1,495,000	7.2	3.1
	Palestine[116][Note 11]	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Panama[117]	0	0	26,000	26,000	6.8	0
	Papua New Guinea[118]	3,600	0	0	3,600	0.5	0.5
	Paraguay[119]	13,950	164,500	14,800	193,250	27.5	2
	Peru[120]	81,000	188,000	77,000	346,000	11	2.6
	Philippines[121]	143,100	131,000	62,300	336,400	3.2	1.4
	Poland[122]	114,050	0	575,400	689,450	17.9	3
	Portugal[123]	27,250	211,700	24,700	263,650	25.5	2.6
	Qatar[124]	16,500	0	5,000	21,500	9.1	7
	Republic of the Congo[125]	10,000	0	2,000	12,000	2.4	2
	Romania[126]	69,300	50,000	57,000	176,300	8.2	3.2
	Russia[127][Note 12]	1,014,000	2,000,000	554,000	3,568,000	25.1	7.1
	Rwanda[128]	33,000	0	2,000	35,000	2.9	2.7
	Saudi Arabia[129]	227,000	0	24,500	251,500	7.6	6.9
	Senegal[130]	13,600	0	5,000	18,600	1.2	0.9
	Serbia[131]	28,150	50,150	3,700	82,000	11.6	4
	Seychelles[132]	420	0	0	420	4.4	4.4
	Sierra Leone[132]	8,500	0	0	8,500	1.3	1.3
	Singapore[133]	51,000	252,500	7,400	310,900	51.9	8.5
	Slovakia[81]	15,850	0	0	15,850	2.9	2.9
	Slovenia[134]	7,250	1,500	5,950	14,700	7	3.4
	Somalia[135]	19,800	0	0	19,800	1.8	1.8
	South Africa[136]	65,350	15,050	0	80,400	1.5	1.2
	South Korea[137]	599,000	3,100,000	3,013,500	6,712,500	130.5	11.6
	South Sudan[138]	185,000	0	0	185,000	18.1	18.1
	Spain[139]	120,350	15,150	75,800	211,300	4.4	2.5
	Sri Lanka[140]	255,000	5,500	92,600	353,100	15.6	11.3
	Sudan[141]	104,300	0	105,000	209,300	4.9	2.4
	Suriname[142]	1,840	0	0	1,840	3.1	3.1
	Sweden[143]	29,750	0	21,200	50,950	5.1	3
	Switzerland[144]	19,550	196,450	0	216,000	26	2.4
	Syria[145]	169,000	0	100,000	269,000	13.8	8.7
	Taiwan (Republic of China)[146]	163,000	1,657,000	11,800	1,831,800	77.8	6.9
	Tajikistan[147]	8,800	0	7,500	16,300	1.9	1
	Tanzania[148]	27,000	80,000	1,400	108,400	2	0.5
	Thailand[149]	360,850	200,000	138,700	699,550	10.2	5.3
	Togo[150]	8,550	0	750	9,300	1.1	1
	Trinidad and Tobago[142]	4,050	0	0	4,050	3.3	3.3
	Tunisia[151]	35,800	0	12,000	47,800	4.2	3.1
	Turkey[152]	425,000	200,000	156,800	781,800	9.6	5.2
	Turkmenistan[153]	36,500	0	5,000	41,500	7.7	6.7
	Uganda[154]	45,000	10,000	1,400	56,400	1.4	1.1
	Ukraine[155]	209,000	900,000	102,000	1,211,000	27.6	4.8
	United Arab Emirates[156]	63,000	0	0	63,000	6.5	6.5
	United Kingdom[157]	138,500	78,600	0	217,100	3.3	2.1
	United States[158]	1,388,100	744,950	0	2,133,050	6.5	4.2
	Uruguay[159]	21,000	0	1,400	22,400	6.6	6.2
	Uzbekistan[160]	48,000	0	20,000	68,000	2.3	1.6
	Venezuela[161]	123,000	8,000	220,000	351,000	11.1	3.9
	Vietnam[162]	482,000	5,000,000	40,000	5,522,000	56.9	5
	Yemen[163]	40,000	0	0	40,000	1.4	1.4
	Zambia[164]	15,100	3,000	1,400	19,500	1.2	0.9
	Zimbabwe[165]	29,000	0	21,800	50,800	3.6	2.1

Not included in the list are the militaries of Abkhazia, Andorra, Artsakh, Transnistria, Bhutan, Comoros, Eswatini, Maldives, Monaco, Northern Cyprus, San Marino, Saint Kitts and Nevis, São Tomé and Príncipe, Somaliland, Tonga and Vanuatu.