Washington: United States President Donald Trump on Sunday claimed that China will be the biggest winner of the USD 740 million defence bill and vowed to veto it.
Taking to Twitter, Trump said, "THE BIGGEST WINNER OF OUR NEW DEFENSE BILL IS CHINA!. I WILL VETO!"
While the US President did not elaborate much on his specific concern over China, Rhode Island's Senator Jack Reed said in a tweet, "President Trump clearly has not read the bill, nor does he understand what is in it. There are several bipartisan provisions in here that get tougher on China than the Trump Administration has ever been."
According to a report by The Washington Post, "The annual defence bill establishes a programme to strengthen the United States' posture and alliances in the Indo-Pacific region and funding for additional attack submarines that senior Pentagon officials have said are vital for countering China's powerful maritime forces. The legislation also creates a new director of cybersecurity position to coordinate such activities government-wide, and establishes a plan to make the Defense Department less dependent on Chinese manufacturing, from microelectronics to face masks."
Read:|White House approves defence bill with veto-proof margin
The flagship China-focused programme is the "new Pacific Deterrence Initiative" aiming to establish a regionwide approach to counter China "in its immediate area of influence". The program's inspiration comes from the European Deterrence Initiative, launched in 2014 to bolster the presence of US forces to help defend North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), allies against Russian aggression, said The Washington Post.
On December 11, the Senate had voted 84-13 in favour of the bill, enough to override Trump's veto.