The US no longer has military primacy in the Pacific and could struggle to defend allies against China, a top Australian think tank said.
A hard-hitting report from the US Studies Centre at the University of Sydney released yesterday said the US military is an “atrophying force” that is “dangerously overstretched” and “ill-prepared” for a confrontation with China.
If correct, the assessment has far-reaching implications for US allies such as Taiwan, Australia and Japan that depend on US security guarantees.
US President Donald Trump’s administration has deepened concerns that Washington would not defend its allies in the face of aggression from China — but this latest report has suggested that the US might struggle to help even if it wanted to.
Accusing Washington of “strategic insolvency,” the authors said decades-long Middle East wars, partisanship and under-investment have left Pacific allies exposed.
“China, by contrast, is growing ever more capable of challenging the regional order by force as a result of its large-scale investment in advanced military systems,” they said.
Under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), Beijing’s official defense budget has increased by about 75 percent to US$178 billion — although the true figure is believed to be much more.
Crucially, Beijing has invested in precision ballistic missiles and counterintervention systems that would make it difficult for the US military to reach contested areas quickly. “Almost all American, allied and partner bases, airstrips, ports and military installations in the Western Pacific” lack hardened infrastructure and are under major threat, the report said.
That advantage could be used to seize territory in Taiwan, Japanese-administered islands or the South China Sea before US forces could get there.
Experts believe that the deployment of US land-based missiles and a changed role for the US Marine Corps will be vital to countering China, as well as collective regional defense — with the likes of Australia and Japan doing more.
In Australia, concerns have been growing about inadequate defenses, prompting debate about whether the country should think about developing nuclear weapons.
Similar discussions have periodically taken place in Indonesia.
A separate report released on Sunday by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute recommended Australia boost and harden military capabilities in the thinly populated north of the country.
“Because of the significantly reduced warning times for future conflict,” it is likely the north of Australia would be used as a forward operating base or a “lily pad” to reach conflict zones, author John Coyne wrote.
The US military has already earmarked about US$210 million to boost a US Marine Corps base near Darwin.
During a recent visit to Australia, US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper suggested that Washington wants to deploy intermediate-range missiles in Asia.
The Australian government said it has not received a formal request to host those weapons.
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
RSS