Beijing should not fear a new US defense policy, seen as an “evolutionary” Asian security strategy to counterbalance China’s growing might, that will lead to a network of new military partnerships across Asia, officials and analysts said yesterday.
The new defense strategy — which will expand the US’ military presence in Asia, but shrink the overall size of the force in order to slash defense spending — was flagged late last year and is a clear sign of the US’ commitment to the region.
However, Beijing is concerned that Washington’s new defense posture, as it turns away from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is aimed at encircling China and that it could hobble China’s growing power.
Australia, a close US military ally that is already engaged in a A$65 billion (US$67 billion) defense buildup, said the rebalancing of US forces to Asia should not threaten China, or Australia’s A$113 billion two-way trade relationship with Beijing.
“The American position is very sophisticated and it’s sophisticated in directions we’d encourage. It’s not a containment strategy,” Kim Beazley, Australian ambassador to the US and former Australian defense minister, told Australian radio.
US President Barack Obama unveiled the new strategy on Thursday, saying the “tide of war is receding.”
US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said the military would be “smaller and leaner.”
Obama administration officials say they expect the army and marine corp to be cut by between 10 percent and 15 percent over the next decade.
Washington has said it would seek to work with China to ensure economic prosperity and security in the region, but that it would continue to raise security issues, such as the South China Sea, through which US$5 trillion in trade sails annually.
The disputed ownership of oil-rich reefs and islands in the South China Sea is one of the biggest security threats in Asia. The sea is claimed wholly or in part by Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei.
China is seen as increasingly assertive on the high seas, with several incidents in the South China Sea in the past year.
There is also growing concern in the US and Asia at China’s military developments in recent years, both in the size of its force and its capabilities, Kokoda Foundation security analyst Ross Babbage said.
China has been expanding its naval might, with submarines and a maiden aircraft carrier, and it has also increased its missile and surveillance capabilities, extending its offensive reach in the region and unnerving its neighbors.
“In the last three to four years, there has been the deployment of very large numbers of missiles, ballistic and cruise, and also the refining of surveillance capabilities,” Babbage said.
Under the new defense strategy, the US will maintain its large bases in northern Asia, in Japan and South Korea.
South Korean Deputy Minister for National Defense Policy Lim Kwan-bin told a press conference in Seoul yesterday that US officials had assured him the new strategy “will have no impact” on US forces in South Korea.
Tensions have risen considerably on the Korean Peninsula, the most militarized area in the world, after the death of former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on Dec. 17 ushered in new uncertainty.
Tokyo also saw little direct impact from Washington’s defense shift and welcomed the new strategy, Kyodo news agency quoted Japanese Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa as saying.
Washington is under pressure to close its main marine base in Okinawa.
“What we are seeing is the development and growth of a network of partnerships to strengthen capabilities and resilience,” Babbage said.
Beazley, an expert on US defense policy, identified potential border disputes as especially important, and he said Australia would be heavily affected by the new US focus on maritime resources and the Asia-Pacific region.
“It is America underpinning ... a resolution of any border conflicts, and maritime border conflicts are particularly important in the Southeast Asian area,” Beazley said.
During a visit to Australia in November, Obama announced that marines, naval ships and aircraft would be deployed to northern Australia this year, using Darwin as a de facto base.
The deployment to Australia, which will reach a task force of 2,500 US troops by 2016, is small compared with the 28,000 troops stationed in South Korea and 50,000 in Japan.
However, the US will likely use Darwin as a model for deploying its military, especially air and naval assets. The US Navy has said it will station several new coastal combat ships in Singapore and perhaps the Philippines in coming years.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in