Tang Tsou’s (鄒讜) study America’s Failure in China 1941-1950 documents and illustrates US policymakers’ unwillingness to use military power and espousal of idealistic objectives in the US’ China policy.
US President Barack Obama was widely criticized as being weak and indecisive, because he failed to enforce the “red line” he laid down in Syria and has been unwilling, or unable, to use force to stop Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea. Will his “pivot to Asia” — or “rebalancing” — strategy suffer from the same grave defect?
Obama used to think of China as a responsible international “stakeholder,” and assiduously sought its help and cooperation to cope with regional and global problems.
However, Beijing has its own agenda and has been obstinate and unwilling to accommodate. China’s hegemonic ambitions in the Asia-Pacific region, especially its militarization of the South China Sea in the past several years, have shown Obama that his assumptions about the Chinese leadership and its foreign policy are not in line with reality and emerging trends.
Therefore, Obama has reached an alarming conclusion that the rising China is challenging “pax Americana” and that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) “China dream” is a blueprint to supplant the US as the global superpower.
China’s claim of sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and their adjacent waters overlaps with those of Taiwan and Southeast Asian nations, causing wariness in the US and its allies.
In the past few years, China has constructed seven artificial islands in the disputed Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) and built airstrips and military posts, ignoring the protests of its neighbors.
Contrary to the pledge Xi made during a state visit to Washington in September last year that “China does not intend to pursue militarization” in the Spratlys, China has recently dredged a deep-water port, built a military runway and deployed fighter jets and surface-to-air missiles to Fiery Cross Reef (Yongshu Reef, 永暑島) — one of the seven artificial islands in the area.
Moreover, in addition to the deployment of missiles and fighter jets to the disputed Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), China is building a military outpost on Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島), 230km off the Philippine coast and within the exclusive economic zone that it claims. The Philippines claims the Scarborough Shoal, but China took effective control of it in 2012. The outpost is to include a military-capable airstrip, enabling Beijing to project power across the South China Sea and present an overt threat to the Philippines, a US ally.
To counter China’s expansionism and growing military reach in the region, the US is boosting alliances and, for a change, placing a greater emphasis on the display of military power.
In the first half of last month, the US and the Philippines held a 10-day joint military drill, with Australia sending troops to participate in joint exercises and Japan dispatching three warships to visit a Philippine naval base.
Manila announced that the Philippines would open five military bases to US forces according to a new defense agreement.
US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, who was in Manila at the end of the joint exercises, said that six high-powered US aircraft and three helicopters, with a combined 200 crew members, are to remain behind at Clark Air Base “to contribute to regional security and stability.”
Carter also said that the US had begun joint patrols of the South China Sea with the Philippine Navy and that the air forces of the two allies would follow suit.
Prior to his trip to Manila, Carter toured an Indian aircraft carrier, the first time a US defense secretary had done so.
He disclosed new US-India military agreements: The US is to help India upgrade its carriers and the two nations are to cooperate on logistics and other military technologies.
India was once a leader of the non-aligned movement and rather reluctant to engage with the US military. The rise in China’s military power and expansionism has changed India’s attitude and policy: it seeks to bolster its security ties with the US and Japan.
India is cooperating with Japan, a US ally, to upgrade civilian infrastructure in the Andanan and Nicobar islands in the Indian Ocean, a potential strategic asset, to counter China’s naval expansion.
There are unmistakable signs that China’s expansionism has backfired. Its militarization of the South China Sea and its ambition to dominate the region is counter productive and presents a huge diplomatic setback, as they have prompted US military initiatives to contain China’s hegemonic ambitions and spurred many of China’s neighbors to enhance security cooperation with the US.
A few serious questions must be answered: Is Xi in command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)? Does he support the military buildup in the South China Sea? Is it possible that the PLA has hijacked policymaking in Beijing?
Last month, General Fan Changlong (范長龍), vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission and the highest-ranking PLA officer, made a high-profile inspection of Fiery Cross Reef to in a show of support for China’s territorial sovereignty claims and maritime interests in the South China Sea. The PLA is conducting exercises in the South China Sea with warships, submarines, aircraft and troops from its garrisons in the Spratlys and Paracel islands.
Meanwhile, a US warship, the USS William P. Lawrence, a guided-missile destroyer, sailed on May 10 within 12 nautical miles (22.2km) of Fiery Cross Reef to challenge China’s claims. The US operation was carried out to demonstrate the right of freedom of navigation and oppose China’s efforts to restrict navigation in the strategic waterway, a Pentagon spokesman said.
The US resumed freedom of navigation patrols last year and has since been carrying out such patrols regularly near the disputed Spratlys and the Paracels.
On April 15, Carter rode a helicopter to visit a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS John C. Stennis, as it cruised through the South China Sea near waters claimed by China.
Actions speak louder than words. The US is placing greater emphasis on military power to enhance its rebalancing strategy and to contain China’s hegemonic ambitions. The Pentagon has taken concrete measures in earnest to boost US military forces in the region, with additional personnel, more powerful and sophisticated ships, aircraft and equipment to counter China’s rising military power.
US officials have indicated a steady military surge with 60 percent of the ships and aircraft to be deployed to the Pacific by 2020, up from about half before the beginning of the rebalancing strategy.
A free, democratic and safe Taiwan is a vital US security asset. US policymakers must recognize Taiwan’s strategic importance and the role it can play to improve the rebalancing strategy. Therefore, the US must do whatever it takes to help Taiwan defend itself and support the freedom of its 23 million people to determine and safeguard their future without intimidation from the outside.
On the eve of president-elect Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) inauguration on May 20, a statement issued separately, or jointly, by the US, Japan and other democratic nations in which they oppose China’s coercive or provocative action toward Taiwan would be timely and essential.
Parris Chang, professor emeritus of political science at Penn State University and president of the Taiwan Institute for Political, Economic and Strategic Studies, served as a Democratic Progressive Party legislator and deputy secretary-general of the National Security Council.
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