Kurt Campbell, Deputy Secretary of State, speaks on China at the Stimson Center in Washington. (Screenshot from Stimson Center)

WASHINGTON — The shipbuilding capacity of the United States when compared against China is “deeply concerning” and reflective of a need for the US Navy to “step up” as it prepares for a potential conflict in the Indo-Pacific, a senior State Department official told lawmakers today.

“Look at the difference in shipbuilding between the United States and China. Deeply concerning. We have to do better in this arena, or we will not be the great naval power that we need to be for the 21st century,” Kurt Campbell, a deputy secretary of state and former senior National Security Council official, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during a hearing about assessing the United States’ ability to compete with China.

Campbell, who played a critical role in the development of AUKUS while he was at the NSC, acknowledged both the workforce capacity issues American industry faces as well as the challenges in working with allies.

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He also said that investment in ground forces during the past 20 years of conflict in the Middle East were “appropriate.” But nonetheless, any conflict in the Indo-Pacific, he argued, will put the spotlight back onto the Navy and Air Force.

“Now is the Navy and the Air Force’s time,” he said. “They have to step up. They have to invest more, they have to be more innovative, they have to be more intrepid. And they’ve got to understand that the Indo-Pacific arena requires the most capable naval and advanced long range air capabilities that the United States has ever needed before.”

At the same hearing, Campbell was also questioned about the relationship China has been building with Russia. The senior diplomat echoed concerns many Pentagon officials have aired, including Chinese aid for Russia to continue its war in Ukraine as well as assisting them in accessing natural resources in the arctic.

But Campbell cautioned lawmakers not to downplay “Russian agency” in the relationship, despite the growing narrative that Moscow is becoming more dependent on Beijing.

“China and Russia are competing now for influence in North Korea. China is anxious about some of the steps that Russia has taken with North Korea,” he said. “China is competing with Russia in the Arctic. … It doesn’t mean that there’s a division or gulf, but it just means that there is a complex diplomacy among these various countries.”