US Tries To Contain an Asian Giant

The U.S. is developing programs in multiple areas, including aviation, space, the navy, communications, intelligence and electronic combat, to try to close access routes to China through the East China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. During the next decade, the Pentagon has a budget of $524.5 billion to create two air-sea combat blockades aimed at controlling China.

In the strategic context of air-sea warfare, the aviation program will be the most expensive and will include long-range combat aircraft. The second most expensive will be the naval program, and it is hoped that both will be up and running by 2018.

According to The Washington Post, “Washington is concerned about Beijing’s growing power, which is why it is aiming to apply certain containment policies.”* The paper also reported that the U.S. has signed an agreement with Singapore that will allow it to set up a new military base there, home to the newest state-of-the-art American warships.

The project, which will be completed by 2023, will include two barriers that would block Chinese forces in the case of conflict between Washington and Beijing, one in the East China Sea and the other in the Pacific Ocean.

China is aware of how devastating the consequences could be if there were to be a blockade caused by a confrontation with the U.S., which is why Beijing has also started to develop long-term projects to reduce possible threats.

The U.S. can count on Japan to help contain the Asian giant. Tokyo has accused Beijing of trying to “change the status quo by force in ways incompatible with the existing order of international law.” This reaffirms Japan’s new national security strategy, approved by the country’s government on Dec. 17, and constitutes another step toward the objective of making Japan a stronger and more independent military power, capable of containing Chinese expansionism in the region if necessary.

The strategy was demonstrated most powerfully when militarist elements notoriously rose to prominence in the Japanese government. It was revealed in the government’s decision to build up the country’s navy and air force, and its intention to build its own ballistic missiles.

In 2013, Tokyo’s failure to rule out a military response to a Chinese landing on the disputed Senkaku Islands signaled that the country was ready to adopt tougher measures. The characteristic tension in relations between China and Japan has reached a critical level, although neither country wants a military confrontation.

For the Japanese government, there is no doubt that the Senkaku Islands constitute an indisputable part of the country’s territory. Focusing on China’s increasing military dominance in Asia, the Japanese government passed its new security strategy, as well as approving a five-year plan to expand its military capabilities. This policy is a response to Japan’s belief that China’s maritime “intrusions” into the Senkaku Islands (which are governed by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing) constitute a “concern at international level.”

Diplomats from both countries are endeavoring to find a peaceful solution to the problem through behind-the-scenes negotiation and unofficial agreements to prevent an escalation in tensions.

China’s flourishing economy depends directly on its complex maritime lines of supply (and demand), mainly in the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific. Today’s China, revitalized and militarized, constitutes a threat not only to Japan, but also to the positions of Western powers in the Asian Mediterranean.

*Editors Note: The original quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.