US builds software tool to predict China's reactions to military actions

US military commanders in the Pacific have built a software tool to predict how the Chinese government will react to US actions in the region like military sales, US-backed military activity and even congressional visits to hotspots like Taiwan.

Deputy Secretary of Defence Kathleen Hicks was briefed on the new tool during a visit to the United States Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii on Tuesday.

The tool calculates “strategic friction,” a defence official said. It looks at data since early 2020 and evaluates significant activities that had impacted US-Sino relations.