Key Points and Summary – NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte issued a stark warning this week that China’s naval shipbuilding capacity is vastly outpacing the West.
-Speaking after China’s massive military parade, Rutte said he is “really worried,” noting China’s navy now has more ships than the U.S. and its industrial capacity is an astonishing “200 times” greater.
-With U.S. shipyards facing delays and worker shortages, the gap is widening.
-Rutte urged European NATO members to urgently accelerate their own production, warning that unless the entire alliance addresses this imbalance, they collectively risk losing their maritime edge to China.
NATO Says China Could Outpace U.S. Navy
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has sounded the alarm over what he described as an alarming imbalance between the naval capacity of China and that of the United States and its allies, urging a significant boost in Western shipbuilding.
Chinese Navy ‘Already’ Outpacing Washington
Speaking at a defense summit in Prague organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Rutte said the Chinese navy has already outpaced the U.S. Navy in numbers.
“When it comes to shipbuilding, and our navy—and particularly the U.S. Navy — I’m really worried,” Rutte informed delegates.
“China now has more ships sailing than the U.S, and shipbuilding in the U.S. is not at a rate that they can catch up on what China is doing at the moment.”
PLA Debuts Flashy New Kit
Rutte’s stark works come in the wake of Beijing’s annual military parade on Wednesday, in which new advanced weaponry was showcased.
China showed off sea-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles and carrier-based aircraft, and is separately poised to commission a third aircraft carrier.
While the U.S. Navy is still the top world maritime power by far, its power is stretched across multiple regions, which requires a costly flow of personnel, weaponry, and repairs. Delays and overruns in American shipyards have compounded the problem.
A recent Government Accountability Office report highlighted not only backlogs but also aging infrastructure and shortages of skilled workers, which are slowing down productivity.
Chinese Shipbuilding Capacity ‘200 Times Greater’ Than USA
By contrast, China’s industrial capacity is staggering. Nick Childs, a maritime expert with the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, recently told the BBC that its shipbuilding industry is operating at a scale “200 times” greater than that of the United States.
The result is a navy with more than 370 ships and submarines. Most of them are modern platforms able to conduct a range of missions.
Washington has openly described China as its “pacing challenge” and has signaled a strategic shift toward the Indo-Pacific. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, earlier this year, told allies in Brussels that America is prioritizing deterrence in Asia, while encouraging European NATO members to carry more of the load in countering Russia closer to home.
(Left to right) Australian ANZAC Class frigate HMAS Stuart (FFH 153) and USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125) wait off the coast of the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii, as they prepare for Flight Test Aegis Weapon System-32 (FTM-32), held March 28, 2024.
This division of labor may be logical on paper, but it also underlines Europe’s urgent need to accelerate its own defense investments. As Rutte put it, European shipbuilding is growing but remains insufficient “if we collectively want to fill that gap.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un also showed up to Beijing’s glitzy parade this week, signalling a growing anti-American alliance. Unless the shipyards of NATO and its allies are prepared to tackle structural weaknesses and accelerate production, they risk losing their edge to China.
About the Author: Georgia Gilholy
Georgia Gilholy is a journalist based in the United Kingdom who has been published in Newsweek, The Times of Israel, and the Spectator. Gilholy writes about international politics, culture, and education. You can follow her on X: @llggeorgia.
More Military
The U.S. Navy’s ‘Achilles Heel’: China’s Underwater Drones
The F-35 Has a ‘5-Year Late’ Problem
X-37B: Russia Thinks This is a Space Bomber