Experts: US Overlooking its Biggest Threat, China

SUBIC BAY, Philippines -- Iranian nukes? Russian agressiveness? ISIS terrorism?

While those dangers dominate the headlines, a growing number of national security experts say China may actually pose the greatest long-term national security threat to the country.

As America focuses its attention on the Middle East, China is flexing its military might and advancing cyber warfare technology.

Columnist Bill Gertz, with the Washington Free Beacon, has written extensively about what's happening in Asia.

"It's my view that China poses the greatest, long-term strategic threat to the United States than anything," he said.

House Intelligence Committee member Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., agreed.

"This is not a democratic nation, this is not a nation that shares our value systems, and this is not a nation that we should for one moment think doesn't present a threat to the United States of America," he said.

China Steaming Ahead of US

China's rapid expansion of its navy has put it ahead of the United States in nuclear and diesel-powered vessels.

While the U.S. Navy has 71 commissioned submarines, the Chinese Navy now has 77 principal combatant ships, 61 submarines, 55 large amphibious ships, and 85 missile-equipped ships.

Also, a China aircraft carrier now projects its naval power around the world and eight more are on the drawing board.

Gertz says as U.S. officials play down the Chinese buildup, the threat will only get worse.

"The Chinese objective right now in Asia is to drive the United States military out of Asia," he explained. "In fact Chinese generals and admirals have told our Pacific commanders, 'Why don't we just settle on dividing the Pacific into two parts? You take the eastern part and we'll take the western part.'"

President Barack Obama rejected that proposal and in late 2011 announced a strategic shift: American presence in the Asia Pacific would become a top priority.

Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter's first overseas visit in his new post was to South Korea and Japan. The U.S. Navy is also starting to return to Philippine military bases like Subic Bay.

Even if they do not have the numbers they once had, their presence sends a strong message to China and to anyone else: the United States is committed to its own interests and those of its allies in the western Pacific.

But the high seas aren't China's only priority. Rep. Pompeo says the Chinese cyber-warfare efforts are the most aggressive in the world.

"Every day, U.S. businesses are being attacked, intellectual property is being stolen," he said.

That costs the U.S. economy tens of billions of dollars.

And it's not only China's theft of military secrets like the designs of Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter jet. Chinese cyber hackers could possibly cripple the nation's power grid.

A shutdown would affect virtually all aspects of life in America -- from transportation to the country's food and water supply.

Is America Protecting You?

Most Americans may assume their government is protecting them from these potential cyber-attacks. But Pompeo suggests Washington is not even there yet.

"All of our intelligence agencies, our Department of Defense, are all working to meet this threat. But it's a fast moving world, it's a place where offense is easier than defense and keeping up with the next innovation in cyber-warfare is an enormous challenge," he explained.

Gertz says the Obama administration's passive response has inspired further high-profile cyber attacks.

"I think the Sony hack from North Korea demonstrated it's not just a matter of getting in and destroying things. It's actually having the ability to influence policies and activities beyond just the technical side of a cyber-attack," he explained.

Pompeo says U.S. intelligence agencies must share information and the government must increase resources if they are to prevent attacks.

Gertz said Obama needs to trust the National Security Agency to get the job done.

"That role has shifted to the Department of Homeland Security which is totally unprepared to do this where as NSA and the new military's cyber command are dedicated forces that are ready to go and have tremendous capabilities to counter act foreign cyber attacks," he argued.

They are efforts that will be needed if America is to counter China's growing threat in the decades to come.