The US is doing the classical Anglo-Saxon offshore balancing. Though difference the difference this time is China's neighbors are a lot less problematic compared to France, Germany and Russia. There is no state in the Chinese neighborhood that can challenge China with the exception of Japan. India is behind the Himalayas and is simply dysfunctional, and Russia (despite all the bullshit think tankies are pushing) is friendly to China. South Korea is decently powerful but has problems with Japan and has no real problems with China. Australia is 6000 km away and has an economy smaller than 2 of Chinese provinces. I would rather see the USA spending that $2 on the Taiwanese military rather than its own military. That $2 billion would generate a lot more additional firepower in the hands of the US military.
I don't think Japan can compete with China either
In the 8 year period from 2011-2019, China added the economic equivalent of 2 Japans, as per the World Bank
In the coming 4 years, China will likely add another Japan-sized economy, then I reckon it would take 3-4 years to add another
That is reflected in military procurement.
If we look at the likely Chinese naval surface fleet additions in the next 5 years, we're looking at China adding a navy larger than Japan's
20 Type-054A Frigates
1+ Type-054B Frigates
20 Type-052D/E Destroyers
8 Type-055 Large Destroyers
1+ Type-076 LHDs with EMALs catapults
1+ Supercarriers (80k tonnes) with EMALs
