; (B) the assessment in the Indo-Pacific Strategy Report that, if the Government of the People’s Republic of China or another competitor in the Indo-Pacific region decides to advance their interests through force, they are likely to enjoy a local military advantage at the onset of conflict. In a fait accompli scenario, competitors would seek to employ their capabilities quickly to achieve limited objectives and forestall a response from the United States and its allies and partners ; (C) testimony by then Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan in March 2019 that— (i) the Government of the People’s Republic of China has made investments specifically intended to offset U.S. advantages ; and (ii) if deployed in the initial stages of a conflict, these capabilities could seek to achieve a fait accompli that would make reversing Chinese gains more difficult, militarily and politically