Inhofe Statement on Chinese Aggression and Biden Administration's Reported Delay of Key ICBM Test

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today released the following statement on Chinese military drills threatening Taiwan and other countries in the region, and the reported decision by the Biden administration to delay a previously planned Minuteman III ICBM test:

"Weakening our nuclear posture will not reduce the threat of nuclear blackmail by Beijing or Moscow; it will only waste taxpayer dollars, undermine allied confidence in U.S. leadership, and embolden our adversaries to take even more aggressive actions when they see that they can. To truly lead against the rising tide of authoritarianism that China and Russia represent, we must project strength, rather than offer empty, conciliatory gestures. We cannot afford to mortgage our future security to appease bullies like Xi and Putin.

"The Biden administration clearly does not fully grasp the seriousness of this challenge, and the imperative of quickly modernizing our strategic forces to meet both the Chinese threat, as well as that posed by Russia. Earlier this year, the administration canceled a critical test of a U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile in response to Russian threats over Ukraine - as we know, that decision didn't deter anything. Now, we have new reports that the administration is once again allowing hostile powers - this time China - to dictate how we sustain and modernize our nuclear deterrent.

"As we've seen this week, China is engaged in a reckless, aggressive demonstration to threaten Taiwan and intimidate any country that would oppose Beijing's quest to dominate the region. This exercise, initiated hours after the U.S. Speaker of the House of Representative's visit, is a crystal ball into China's likely plans for isolating and eventually forcibly annexing the island. The United States must prepare accordingly.

"I have been warning about the threat an increasingly militarized China poses to our allies and partners in Asia. I have worked to reform our military and better posture our nation for the long-term competition that we all know has arrived. This is especially true with regard to modernizing our aging nuclear deterrent and preserving the ultimate guarantee against existential military threats to the United States and our allies and partners. It's time the administration catches up."