Be wary of defence contractors, Chinese study warns, pointing to US system

A new study from China has warned Beijing of the danger of defence contractors having too much influence over defence policy, pointing to the profit-driven expansion of the US military-industrial complex as a salutary example.

In the study published on Monday, researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s National Institute of Strategic Studies said Washington’s “iron triangle” – linking the Department of Defence, private contractors and congressional committees – had hijacked US national security policy.

Defence contractors, the military, and politicians formed a mutually reinforcing alliance where profits, expanded budgets, and political capital aligned, the study said.

“Their interests create a self-perpetuating cycle of ‘military expansion, increased revenue, mutual benefit, further expansion’ that drives armament growth independent of external security pressures,” wrote lead author Gu Jianyi, who was previously a researcher at a military institute.

“The core flaw of the US military-industrial complex is that capital profit-seeking overrides national security and public interest.”

He cautioned that lobbying, manufactured conflicts and threat perception created an inherent risk of “expanding armaments merely for profit”.