Pacific Nations Cooperate to Counter China

China’s aggression and coercion in the Indo-Pacific region is bringing together nations that were once enemies.

The U.S. State Department notes that “Across much of the Indo-Pacific region, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is using military and economic coercion to bully its neighbors, advance unlawful maritime claims, threaten maritime shipping lanes, and destabilize territory along the periphery of the People’s Republic of China (PRC)…As the PRC’s overseas economic and security interests expand under its One Belt One Road initiative (BRI or OBOR), it seeks to expand its overseas military footprint to protect those interests. Specifically, the PRC seeks to establish global logistics and basing infrastructure to allow the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to project and sustain military power at greater distances. [there are] secret military agreements between China and Cambodia. A Chinese military presence in Cambodia could threaten…regional stability. Beijing’s claims to offshore resources across much of the South China Sea are widely denounced as unlawful.  Beijing uses intimidation to undermine the sovereign rights of Southeast Asian coastal states in the South China Sea, bully them out of offshore resources, threaten them out of shipping lanes, assert unilateral dominion, and deprive fishermen of access to their livelihoods. “

Among those nations coming together are the United States and Vietnam.

At a meeting with Hanoi’s Defense Minister General Phan Van Giang, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stated that America is committed to strengthening ties with Vietnam. Among the measures taken are boosting the southeast Asian nation’s industrial base resilience and strengthening its maritime awareness and defense capabilities.

The moves come at a time when Hanoi has expressed concern about China’s aggression towards Vietnamese fisherman, reports the Voice of America, which noting that Hanoi has formally protested China’s reported behavior toward fishermen near the disputed Paracel Islands. “The Vietnamese Foreign Ministry …blamed Chinese law enforcement personnel for the attack, saying they had ‘seriously violated Vietnam’s sovereignty in the Paracel Islands,’ in addition to international law and an agreement by the leaders of the rival claimant countries to better handle their territorial disputes.”

Vietnam shares being on the receiving end of Beijing’s aggression with the Philippines, which has been victimized by China for decades. DW reports that “Vietnam and the Philippines are both at odds with China over its sweeping territorial claims and growing military presence in the South China Sea.” Both nations agreed this summer Vietnam and the Philippines to enhance their defense links and work more closely together on maritime security.

The U.S. military is enhancing its own defense ties with the Philippines. Last July, Eli Ratner, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, stated that “We have elevated the U.S.-Philippines alliance to stand among our most vital defense partnerships in the world. We have raised the profile of alliance engagements.” According to the Pentagon, part of this is the agreement for U.S. rotational presence in the Philippines. The two nations have also taken major steps to increase interoperability, and the U.S. military is working closely with the Philippines’ armed forces on force modernization. “… we have pursued new opportunities together with the Philippines to cooperate multilaterally with like-minded partners across the Indo-Pacific in support of a shared vision for a free and open region,” Ratner noted.

In May, Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles, Japanese Minister of Defense Kihara Minoru, and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III convened a Trilateral Defense Ministerial Meeting in Hawaii. The three nations expressed strong opposition to any attempts by China to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion in the South and East China Seas. This includes concerning and destabilizing actions in the South China Sea, such as unsafe encounters at sea and in the air, the militarization of disputed features, and the dangerous use of coast guard vessels and maritime militia, including interference with routine maritime operations, and efforts to disrupt other countries’ offshore resource exploration.

Photo: U.S. and Vietnam Defense officials meet to discuss China (DoD photo)

Quick Analysis

America’s Naval Crisis

On September 19, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Lisa M. Franchetti, America’s top admiral underscored the imperative for the Navy to meet the demands of an evolving technology and national security landscape. She did so in the context of the release of the “Navigation Plan for America’s Warfighting Navy 2024,” during a discussion hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a public policy think tank in Washington. The plan outlines two overarching strategic ends: readiness for the possibility of war with China by 2027 and enhancement of the Navy’s long-term advantage. “China is clearly the pacing challenge,” she said. “They are on a wartime footing.” Franchetti added that China presents a multidomain challenge encompassing not only military, but also economic competition.” She emphasized China’s lack of transparency about its actions around the globe, and its affinity for use of dual-use technologies to accomplish its aims. The Admiral discussed the changing nature of war and the imperative to adopt robotic and autonomous technology and the reach and lethality of the fleet as key guide rails for the strategy going forward. The plan includes seven, core fleet readiness that include: Ready the force by eliminating ship, submarine and aircraft maintenance delays; Scale robotic and autonomous systems to integrate more platforms at speed; Create the command centers the fleets need to win on a distributed battlefield; Recruit and retain the force need to get more players on the field; Deliver a quality of service commensurate with the sacrifices of American sailors; Train for combat as the U.S. plans to fight, in the real world and virtually; and Restore the critical infrastructure that sustains and projects the fight from shore. Franchetti said the navigation plan captures how the Navy can think, act and operate differently with the resources it has to make the most gains in the shortest time possible. “If you look at the ways we’re trying to do that, which are really seven areas that as I worked with my team, with our four-star fleet commanders, these are areas that I can put my thumb on the scale,” she said. “We could make a difference in those areas, and it will make a meaningful contribution to our ability to be more ready by 2027. The plan also lays out the Navy’s plan to expand its contribution to the joint warfighting ecosystem, building upon the implementation framework for fielding key capabilities outlined in the 2022 Navigation Plan, with an additional focus on scaling robotic autonomous systems. The implementation framework focuses on five capabilities ranging from long-range fires to contested logistics. It also focuses on four key enablers ranging from artificial intelligence to robotic and autonomous systems. She diplomatically noted that domestic fiscal and industrial base constraints add to the Navy’s challenge, she said, as the service recognizes the need to grow its fleet. That’s a politically polite way to state that the American service is outnumbered drastically by China. It also tacitly recognizes that combat with China, and perhaps with its adversaries combined against the U.S., is becoming a near certainty by 2027. Defense expert Mackenzie Eagleton warns that “When it comes to putting hulls in the water, Beijing is far and away ahead of the United States. China has continuously outpaced the U.S. in shipbuilding capabilities and shipyard capacity. Indeed, the shipbuilding divide between China and the United States is vast. A recently declassified intelligence slide from the Office of Naval Intelligence estimates that China has 232 times the shipbuilding capability of the United States, owing to its much larger shipbuilding manufacturing industry. Stunningly, in the face of an almost certain war in the next few years, the lack of investment in the U.S. Navy by the Biden-Harris Administration has received almost no attention in the media. Photo: Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Jonathan Salazar and Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Charles Reece manually fire the Mark 38 Mod 3 25 mm machine gun system during a pre-action calibration firing exercise aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Bulkeley (U.S. Navy photo)

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