Opinion | Will the Indo-Pacific become the new battleground for US- and China-led alliances?

Name: Japan-US hold joint military drills including cyberwarfare training as concerns about China grow
Uploaded: 2021-02-19T01:15:12.000Z
Duration: 2 min 14 s
Description: Japan-US hold joint military drills including cyberwarfare training as concerns about China grow

There is speculation over whether the Quad can become a united, Nato-like bloc when its members are so dependent on China economically and India might be its Achilles’ heel

But if Biden succeeds in expanding alliances, particularly in Southeast Asia, the Quad strategy might work

Reading Time:4 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Danil Bochkov

Published: 9:15am, 19 Feb 2021Updated: 9:49am, 19 Feb 2021

US President Joe Biden has instructed the Pentagon to review America’s China-related strategy to meet challenges in the Indo-Pacific. The establishment of a China task force to revise US capabilities in Asia signifies the huge importance Washington attaches to China and the Indo-Pacific. The European Union has also been ramping up its policy planning for the region, with Germany, France and the Netherlands taking the lead.

The US’ first freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea during Biden’s term came just over two weeks after his inauguration, compared to four months for Donald Trump. Trump waited even longer for his first Taiwan Strait pass – Biden took just two weeks.

Then, on February 9, in a clear demonstration of the seriousness of the new administration’s intentions to maintain a “tough posture” towards Beijing, the US navy held a rare dual-aircraft-carrier exercise in the South China Sea, only its third since 2012.

One outcome of the US redistribution of force might be the redirection of resources from the Middle East to Asia. Much depends on how the US formulates its Iran strategy, which has been ambiguous since Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Meanwhile, Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin has placed the Indo-Pacific and “the chief pacing challenge” of China in the spotlight of long-term military planning. And National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has said the “Quad” framework will play a key role in the US’ Indo-Pacific policy. The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue – revived in 2017 in response to China’s rise – is already seen by Beijing as an anti-China alliance or an “Asian Nato”.

02:14

Japan-US hold joint military drills including cyberwarfare training as concerns about China grow

The first Quad ministerial meeting took place in September 2019 in New York, followed by a second gathering in Tokyo last October, where then-secretary of state Mike Pompeo called on the group to rally against Chinese “exploitation, corruption and coercion”.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x