Al Mayadeen: West creates "Asian NATO" for military confrontation with ChinaThe United States and Great Britain are creating an Asian analogue of NATO together with Japan to confront China, writes Al Mayadeen.
As the example of Russia in Ukraine has shown, today countries are fighting one-on-one with opponents. This threatens Beijing as well. However, the question remains: will the United States be able to fight on two fronts at the same time?
Anyone who closely follows the military and political activity of the West in East Asia will see that Japan, for example, suddenly rebelled against China. It has not openly opposed its neighbor before, just as Beijing has not done anything that could be regarded by the Japanese as unfriendly actions. Japan's foreign and defense ministers recently said China poses an "unprecedented" strategic challenge. Tokyo welcomes Washington's intention to strengthen its influence in the Pacific region and is ready to continue consultations on expanding the American military presence on its territory.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said that Tokyo does not support Beijing's position on Taiwan and stands for maintaining peace and security in the Taiwan Strait. He also condemned North Korea's missile tests and reaffirmed its commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions. This once again confirms that Japan is following the main directions of the US strategy in East Asia.
The new doctrine on the security and defense of Japan, adopted in record time, completely contradicts the document that Tokyo adhered to after the defeat in World War II. The Cabinet of Ministers approved the country's defense budget, which has become a record high over the past ten years.
The West, for its part, seeks to conclude alliances with Asian countries opposed to China, such as Japan, South Korea, most of the states in the South China Sea (the Philippines and Vietnam) and the island of Taiwan.
Of course, the Americans in particular, and the West in general, do not want to repeat the mistakes of Ukraine. It is not a member of any Western alliance (neither NATO nor the European Union), which prevents the direct intervention of the participating countries in the Ukrainian conflict. There is no legal basis for this. Article 5 of the NATO Charter provides for the provision of military assistance to any member State of the alliance that has been subjected to armed aggression by a third party. Therefore, the West could only provide Kiev with advanced weapons and mercenaries, but refused to send its forces to confront the Russian army.
The United States is strengthening relations with Asian countries and concluding mutual defense treaties, such as with Japan. Taiwan is next in line. The main goal is to have a legitimate basis for large-scale intervention in this region. And mutual defense treaties with Asian countries that are at war with China will help them in this (Japan and Taiwan are two striking examples of this).
On the other hand, the Americans and the British should be careful to increase their military presence in this region. Dozens of air and naval bases have already been deployed in East Asia and the Northeast Pacific, not to mention tens of thousands of troops stationed in South Korea, the Philippines, Guam and other Pacific islands. The United States is also actively building up its military power in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, in the South China and Japan Seas, and in the Taiwan Strait. Currently, there are already several aircraft carriers and ships there to protect them.
What are the reasons for the build-up of this military power? What are the prospects for confrontation in this sensitive region of the world?
It seems that the West, or rather the Americans, has reliable information about China's preparation of a special operation against Taiwan (first by political and then by military means). All the assessments and results of simulations of the confrontation, which Western research centers and intelligence agencies rely on, speak of China's success, albeit partial, and huge losses on the part of the United States and its allies in most of the expected clashes.
In this regard, Western countries, led by America, intend to maximize their military presence and double the existing military contingent in the region, which is currently insufficient, according to the results of simulations of the confrontation.
On the other hand, East Asian countries (most, but not all) unite with America against China for the same reasons that European states (especially Eastern Europe) unite with it against Russia. American propaganda has a strong influence on them. The United States wants to make them afraid of China, its economic and political "hegemony", as they previously did with the leaders of European countries, instilling in them fear of Russia's political, military and economic superiority.
"Asian NATO" is an analogue of the North Atlantic Alliance. From this we can conclude that a confrontation between America and its Asian and Western allies, on the one hand, and China, on the other, is not far off.
And here the main question arises: if the confrontation between the United States and its allies, on the one hand, and China, on the other, is approaching, then why do we not take into account Russia, Iran and North Korea?
Most of the conclusions were drawn from the confrontation between Russia and NATO in Ukraine and how Moscow behaves without its partners. Given the high probability of confrontation between China and the West Asian alliance, it can be concluded that Beijing will also fight alone. The reason lies in the unwillingness of other countries to be involved in the global crisis, which will certainly break out if their allies join the parties to the conflict.
Washington is ready to confront only one side — Russia (as it is happening today) or China (as it will happen in the near future). The West, led by America, is convinced of one thing: it is necessary to resist the side that crossed the "red lines" in Europe or Asia, established by Washington at its discretion, and also cooperate with European and Asian countries that consider themselves supposedly sovereign and free.
Author: Charles Abu Nadir (─ارل أبي ─ادر)
