"TOKYO -- Democracies in Asia that rely on the backstop of U.S. military power for their prosperity are confronting a new reality: American protection is no longer enough now that China rivals the U.S. in areas such as advanced missiles and naval hardware.
To tackle the problem, Beijing's neighbors, with prodding from the U.S. and help from Europe, are building a network of regional-security ties with a goal similar to that of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization: Deterring a large nation whose growing ambitions have raised the prospect of conflict.
It is a far cry from the real NATO, which has a treaty binding all 30 members to defend each other if one is attacked. But by stepping up military training, information sharing and defense procurement with each other, countries such as Japan, Australia, South Korea and the Philippines aim to project greater military readiness.
Top U.S. and Japanese government leaders discussed deepening security cooperation with Asian and European countries in Washington on Wednesday. At the meeting, the leaders released plans for U.S.-Japan military cooperation including protecting Japanese satellites and upgrading Marine forces in Okinawa.
"I think that we are all putting in place the building blocks for a firmer kind of cooperative sense of shared security," said Rahm Emanuel, the U.S. ambassador to Japan.
The military operation in Ukraine has shown the value of broad alliances, and several European countries that share a desire to deter Beijing are contributing. In London on Wednesday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida signed an agreement with the U.K. to facilitate more joint military exercises, following a similar deal with Australia. Mr. Kishida is meeting President Biden at the White House on Friday.
French, Dutch and German warships have appeared for drills in Asia with the U.S., Japan and others during the past 18 months.
The U.S. has long called for its allies to do more to defend themselves. Security analysts say the relative decline of U.S. military power in comparison with China has raised the stakes.
Under leader Xi Jinping, China has equipped its military with cutting-edge weapons such as hypersonic missiles, developed elite troops modeled on the U.S. Marine Corps and reorganized the military to better fight a regional conflict.
The Chinese military is more visible too. Its warplanes frequently fly near Taiwan. It has held aircraft-carrier exercises close to Japan and joint naval and air force exercises with Russia.
In November the U.K., Australia and Canada joined a U.S.-Japanese exercise based on a scenario of repelling an attack on Japan. Dozens of aircraft and ships from the five nations, as well as 36,000 troops from the U.S. and Japan took part."This sort of multilateral cooperation and training drastically increases our collective ability to respond when needed," said Lt. Gen. Ricky Rupp, the commander of U.S. forces in Japan.
The question of whether such exercises are leading to a NATO-like bloc is a sensitive one. At a March 2022 news conference, top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi said the U.S. wants an Asian NATO and accused Washington of acting like a regional hegemon.
This week, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, asked about the U.K.-Japan deal, said U.S. allies shouldn't "replicate the obsolete mind-set of bloc confrontation in the Asia-Pacific."
Behind Beijing's rhetoric is the recognition that Southeast Asian nations generally are wary of antagonizing China by aligning too closely with the U.S. In Cambodia, Beijing is helping to upgrade a naval base, and China is the biggest trading partner for much of the region.
U.S. and Japanese officials say they don't envision a tight bloc cemented with a single treaty like NATO, but rather a "web of like-minded countries with a common strategic interest," in the words of Mr. Emanuel, the ambassador in Tokyo.
The only formal security treaties for the U.S. in the Asia-Pacific are two-way pacts with individual allies. It has five -- with Japan, Thailand, the Philippines, South Korea and Australia.Multinational arrangements are less formal or limited to ad hoc participation in exercises. That leaves more uncertainty about who would participate -- and how -- in any actual war.
Nations that have territorial disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea, such as Vietnam, have been more active in building defense relationships. Indonesia and the Philippines held some of their largest military drills last year with the U.S.
Japan and South Korea, whose relations have long been strained, held joint anti-submarine exercises with the U.S. last year for the first time in five years, and the three are looking to share real-time data about North Korean missile launches." [1]
How is this Asian option good in case of Europe? The US could focus on competing with China. Europe could once again rest from military adventures and refugee flows. The world could once again reduce the burning of carbon in energy production. Everyone would benefit.
1. World News: Asia, Europe Look to Join Forces to Restrain Beijing
Gale, Alastair; Tsuneoka, Chieko. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 13 Jan 2023: A.7.
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