TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The U.S. Navy still has the advantage over China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) but issues need to be addressed to maintain the upper hand, U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Gilday said in an interview with 60 Minutes.

The latest episode of 60 Minutes took a closer look at the current state of the U.S. Navy amid China’s military buildup, interviewing high-ranking navy officials and lawmakers.

“Our navy's still in a position to prevail. But that's not blind confidence. We are concerned with the trajectory that China's on, with China's behavior. But we are in a good position right now—if we did ever get into a fight against them,” Gilday said.

However, he acknowledged there are problems the navy must solve to ensure its strength, including the insufficient number of shipyards. “Over my career, we've gone from more than 30 shipyards, down to about seven that we rely upon on a day-to-day basis to build ships,” he said.

Gilday also said there is a huge backlog of ship repairs. The navy had cut down the number of “delay days,” the extra days a ship is not operational, from 7,700 to 3,000 over a period of three years, but “we are not satisfied,” he said.

The navy chief said he is most alarmed about the rapid growth of China’s conventional forces as well as its nuclear, cyber, and space capabilities and how they will be used to repel other navies out of the South China Sea. “They want to control where those goods flow and how,” he said.

Gilday pointed out that America’s presence in the region is meant to “reassure allies and partners around the world that those sea lanes do remain open.” “The global economy literally floats on seawater.”

He said the U.S. Navy's primary edge over China is its sailors, which he wants to have serving in conjunction with a modernized fleet consisting of hundreds of unmanned vessels by 2045.

Admiral Samuel Paparo, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, echoed Gilday’s concerns about China’s military buildup, particularly its rocket force. “I'd be a fool to not worry about it,” Paparo said.

China has developed long-range precision guided weapons, including the DF-21 and DF-26, which can strike ships. The rocket force tests their accuracy by targeting replicas of American navy ships in the desert.

Paparo mentioned that China's navy, which currently has 350 ships, is growing at a rapid rate. “We call it the ‘Decade of Concern.’ We've seen a tenfold increase in the size of the PRC Navy,” he said.

One thing to look out for is China’s aircraft carriers, Paparo said. The PLAN now has two operational carriers but it is working toward bigger and more advanced ones, he said.

In terms of preventing a Chinese attack on Taiwan, Paparo said it is the Pacific Fleet’s duty to be ready for the possibility. A large number of the navy’s assets would be deployed to the region to help defend Taiwan if Washington decides to take action, he said.

In the case of a Taiwan Strait conflict, the U.S. will work with its allies and partners “to deliver intolerable costs to anybody that would upend the order in violation of the nation's security or in violation of the nation's interests,” he said.

Paparo said the U.S. had always been supportive of China’s rise, and now only wants Beijing to “play by the rules.” “In no way are we seeking to contain China,” he said.

Sixty Minutes also talked to congresspeople Mike Gallagher and Elaine Luria, who were on the House Armed Services Committee in the last Congress.

Gallagher, who heads the new House select committee on China, argued that the U.S. is not taking adequate action to enlarge its navy despite increasing Chinese threats in the Indo-Pacific region. The navy will be reduced to 280 ships by 2027, the same year China is expected to have the capability to seize Taiwan by force, per 60 Minutes.

Luria said she believes the navy “has not received the attention and resources that it needs over two decades.” In her 20-year career in the navy, Luria said each of the six ships she served on “was either built during or a product of the fleet that was built—in the Cold War.”

The navy has requested over a quarter of a trillion dollars, an US$11 billion (NT$333.82 billion) increase from last year, for its budget request for fiscal year 2024, 60 Minutes reported.