Senate Foreign Relations Committee hears bipartisan calls to bolster Indo‑Pacific alliances, aid and access

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Oct. 12 heard bipartisan testimony urging expanded U.S. political, military and economic engagement across the Indo‑Pacific to deter Chinese coercion and strengthen allied burden sharing.

Chairman Jim Risch opened the hearing by saying China had “rapidly escalate[d] its aggressive actions against Taiwan, Japan, The Philippines, Australia, and other countries in the Indo Pacific,” and framed the session around how Washington and its partners can build “alliances that are fit and up to this task.” Ranking Member Sen. Jeanne Shaheen said the challenges from China extend beyond Asia and described U.S. alliances as “one of our greatest security assets.”

The hearing drew testimony from three outside experts who told lawmakers the United States should measure burden sharing more broadly than a single defense‑spending percentage and should pair military cooperation with economic and information‑space engagement.

Randy Schriver, chairman of the board at the Project 2049 Institute and a former assistant secretary of defense for Indo‑Pacific affairs, told the committee that strong alliances compensate for “the tyranny of time and distance” faced by U.S. forces in the Western Pacific. “Strong alliances and partnerships are the best way to combat this tyranny of time and distance,” Schriver said, arguing for crediting host‑nation access, basing and other non‑spending contributions when evaluating allied commitments.

Dr. Oriana Mastro, a fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, urged the United States to seek “more expansive, flexible, and permanent access basing and overflight” in allied countries and to encourage partners to invest in capabilities that complement U.S. forces. She warned that Chinese economic and information efforts—along with recent reductions in U.S. development and public‑diplomacy programs—have weakened U.S. influence in parts of the region.

Dr. Victor Cha, a Georgetown University professor and longtime U.S. alliances expert, emphasized that the U.S. alliance network built after World War II remains a unique source of U.S. power but requires modernization. Cha urged that access arrangements be paired with efforts to counter Chinese economic coercion and recommended documenting allied contributions beyond narrow defense‑spending metrics.

Witnesses and senators raised several recurring themes:

- Broadening burden sharing beyond GDP percentages: All three witnesses said percent‑of‑GDP figures are informative but incomplete. They recommended weighing access, host‑nation support, interoperability, contributions to coalition operations and historical ties when assessing allied contributions.

- Investments in access and logistics: Witnesses urged more permanent basing, overflight rights and host‑nation support in locations such as the Philippines, Japan’s southwest islands and other parts of the first and second island chains. Schriver and Mastro pointed to the strategic value of the Philippines’ Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites—which were cited in testimony as nine active sites—and to the need for improved infrastructure and U.S. military construction contributions.

- Economic, development and information engagement: Several senators and witnesses warned that cuts or pauses to U.S. development and public‑diplomacy programs reduce U.S. influence. Mastro and Cha said China spends substantially more on public diplomacy in many regions—Mastro stated that “they spend 8 times more than we do on public diplomacy”—and recommended restoring programs such as USAID‑led assistance, Radio Free Asia and Voice of America activities and education and cultural exchanges.

- Supply‑chain and industrial resilience: Senators pressed witnesses on vulnerabilities beyond semiconductors, including critical minerals and processing capacity. Schriver and others said diversifying suppliers and onshoring processing steps are necessary to reduce strategic dependence on China.

- Russia‑China‑North Korea ties: Witnesses said the closer cooperation among Russia, China and North Korea—visible in Ukraine and in munitions flows—has raised regional concern and argued for closer trilateral and multilateral planning with allies in Asia and Europe to address dual‑contingency scenarios.

Committee members asked specific questions about alliances with the Philippines, South Korea, Japan and Pacific Island nations. Schriver and other witnesses urged the United States to use windows of opportunity with friendly governments—citing the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the Philippines—to accelerate investments in access, training and coast‑guard cooperation. Several senators and witnesses warned that paused State Department and USAID programs, freezes in some foreign assistance and suspension of certain public‑diplomacy accounts risk ceding influence to China.

The session produced policy recommendations for the committee’s oversight role: request regular updates on posture and AUKUS implementation for Japan and Australia; require State Department demonstrations that Foreign Military Sales (FMS), Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and International Military Education and Training (IMET) programs align with strategic goals; and press for timely reviews to resume education, cultural and development assistance that witnesses said support alliance resilience.

The committee left the record open for follow‑up questions. The hearing concluded with Chairman Risch thanking the witnesses and adjourning the session.