Fear of China gnaws at summit in Washington

A subcurrent of worry pulsed through a summit this week in Washington between the leaders of the U.S., Japan and the Philippines.

The concern in question holds global dimensions. It involved a gnawing fear that the world's once-dominant superpower is woefully ill-equipped for the possibility of a maritime standoff in Asia.

America's promises to defend its friends in the event of a conflict with China are butting against increasingly unfriendly math involving ships, budgets and workforce.

It explains the flurry of U.S. co-ordination with countries located halfway around the world from actual conflicts raging now in Ukraine and the Middle East.

The three Indo-Pacific democracies involved in the summit announced joint military, infrastructure and technology projects. They held their first-ever joint maritime drills with Australia last week in the disputed South China Sea.

With Chinese coast guard ships ramming into Filipino resupply trips, the U.S. vowed to defend the Philippines and Japan from any attack, and uphold old commitments.

In a speech to the U.S. Congress, Japan's prime minister cast China as the greatest threat to global stability, and said all countries must chip in to deter it.

"The democratic nations of the world must have all hands on deck," Fumio Kishida told U.S. lawmakers.

He touted Japan's historic ramp-up in military spending. Unlike Canada, Japan does plan to hit the spending target of two per cent of GDP within several years.

Yet Kishida's speech was pock-marked with angst. 

He expressed fear about bequeathing an authoritarian world to future generations. He also acknowledged the growing exhaustion of Americans dealing with overseas problems.

Speaking to the American mindset, he said: "I detect an undercurrent of self-doubt among some Americans about what your role in the world should be."

Even during Kishida's visit, American lawmakers and military leaders elsewhere on Capitol Hill were expressing alarm.

The size of China's naval fleet has zoomed past the U.S. That trend is only accelerating, with its shipbuilding industry more than 200 times bigger and U.S. construction plagued by multi-year delays.