U.S. China Competition – USA Gov Policy

China continues to expand its military, financial, and political reach throughout the Indo-Pacific region.

The relationship between the U.S. military and China has become more competitive, as the U.S. has tried to enforce the sanctions on North Korea, a Defense Department official noted.

Randall Shriver, DOD’s assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, said in the past, the relationship with China was a mixture of engagement and competition, but that has changed in recent years. “We pressed them hard on North Korea,” Shriver said. “We’re trying to enforce the sanctions, and the primary method by which North Korea is attempting to evade the sanctions are through illicit and illegal ship transfers, primarily coal, going out and oil going in. Over time, much of this activity has moved into Chinese territorial waters.”

Speaking on the Defense One-sponsored panel “The China Gap: To Fight or Compete?,”Shriver said China’s leaders profess to be in favor of enforcing the sanctions, but they don’t do it.

He said Chinese army vessels are going outside Chinese territorial waters to shadow and harass U.S. vessels that are trying to enforce the sanctions.

Shriver said China’s military capability is growing, and that is an increasing concern for the U.S. “I hope it gets on a more cooperative path,” he said.

But Shriver said that China’s economic and military aspirations are different from those of the U.S. and nations in the Indo-Pacific region — and that’s at the heart of the problem.

The Chinese want a system more accommodating to their authoritarian model that allows them to exert greater economic and military influence in the region, he said.

However, the U.S. and nations in the region want a free and open Indo-Pacific, Shriver said. And that means upholding international law and norms; protecting other countries’ sovereignty no matter how big they are Celery:This item is considered to viagra on line uk be an excellent food to incline your sexual stimulation. If you are suffering from downtownsault.org viagra on line erectile problems, one of the simplest ways to improve and enhance sexual activity. Are there any Side Effects to this drug? Some men taking Propecia may experience a decrease in sex drive, sexual dysfunction, or changes to ejaculation. http://downtownsault.org/downtown/shopping/up-north-nutrition/ buy generic levitra Watermelon is cheap viagra said to be drug-free treatment for men with erection disorders and premature ejaculation too. reciprocal trade; and peaceful resolution of disputes.

The U.S. military’s response to China’s aggressive stance — particularly in the East and South China Seas — has been to engage with allies and partners in the region on things like multilateral exercises, strengthened defense alliances and maritime presence patrols that include transit through the Taiwan Strait.

Shriver said DOD is also investing in ways to sustain its military edge over China, particularly in the emerging areas of space, cyber and hypersonics.

The idea behind this investment is to ensure the U.S. prevails in any contingency, which should give China pause to use military means for its objectives, he said.

But Shriver emphasized that the U.S. doors are open to cooperation.

Shriver said he frequently meets with his Chinese counterparts, and Defense Secretary Dr. Mark T. Esper spoke with Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Wei Fenghe via video teleconference from the Pentagon on Nov. 5.

Shriver said he expects Esper will soon meet Fenghe.

“We want to work with China on risk reduction, confidence building, crisis management and communications modalities, and we want to work with them on real-world problems,” he said.

Further enhancing concerns about China’s growing military power in the Indo-Pacific, This summer, a variety of media reports indicated that China and Cambodia signed a “secret agreement” giving the PRC use of that nation’s Ream naval base, where, notes the Jamestown Foundation, it may station military servicemen and warships, for 30 years. Both nations have vigorously denied the reports, but the move would be consistent with Beijing’s policies. According to the Jamestown Foundation, the “Ream naval base is the latest in a network of regional security projects—including Cambodia’s Dara Sakor investment zone and Thailand’s Kra Canal—which, taken together, significantly improve Chinese power projection into the Indian Ocean Region. News of the Ream agreement raises the specter of increasing Chinese maritime militarization at a time of intense unease in Southeast Asia.”

Photo: Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Maxwell McMann directs a Seahawk helicopter aboard the guided missile destroyer USS William P. Lawrence during a replenishment-at-sea with the fleet replenishment oiler USNS Pecos in the East China Sea, Sept. 18, 2019.

Quick Analysis

Ukraine’s Frozen Conflict

As we approach winter in the northern hemisphere, the war in Ukraine is beginning to resemble a “frozen conflict” from many perspectives. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently told the media he hopes the war will end faster once President-elect Trump takes over in January. Opinions in Moscow, however, differ from that of the Ukrainian leader. Russian President Vladimir Putin argues that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) needs to exclude Ukraine from joining in “exchange” for peace. If it does not, he says, then no end to the war is in sight. So far there is no Christmas solution. Several NATO countries, according to Vladimir Socor of the Jamestown Foundation, are tentatively considering “coalitions-of-the-willing” to provide security for Ukraine outside of the formal NATO framework. There is, however, no collective mechanism today under which such an arrangement is viable. According to the NATO Charter, while Ukraine is a NATO partner country, it may not join as a full member since it has not fulfilled the requirements for membership. That has not stopped NATO and allies from continuing “to provide Ukraine with unprecedented levels of support, helping to uphold its fundamental right to self-defence,” according to the organization. Socor says that keeping Ukraine out of NATO will not advance peace with Russia. Waiting for a peace settlement, he suggests, would only serve to encourage Moscow to continue the war indefinitely. Although the Biden Administration officially withdrew its support for Ukrainian membership in 2021, NATO maintains an “open door” policy toward membership-seeking countries. The current White House position led the way for European states to oppose Ukraine’s membership saying that a decision should be delayed until “conditions are met.” Biden pushed for changing “open door” to a “bridge” metaphor. It is not intended as an across-the-board NATO policy and has been implemented in the past on a case-by-case basis, says Socor. “The alliance’s open-door policy was not fully insulated from Russia’s non-statutory blocking power, and NATO-aspirant countries’ path toward membership was not always irreversible.” Russia has successfully blocked states like Georgia from joining, first in 2008 and again after the war in Ukraine began in 2014. Russia recognizes the value add of Ukraine to NATO is enormous and that Kyiv has a better case than some other nations. Putin’s invasion was, in part, intended to foreclose that option. By 2021, Moscow was pushing hard to maximize its war objectives, which included further annexations of Ukrainian territory. A main goal for Putin was, and is, to ensure there is no Ukraine left to join NATO. As President-elect Trump prepares to assume office in January, he is faced with the historical challenges presented by the war. Post-conflict security guarantees were the center of several proposals made during the 2023 military stalemate. The incoming Trump Administration has yet to outline how it intends to handle the Russia-Ukraine war. Analysts in Washington believe that the new Administration will expect its European allies to guarantee the majority of Ukraine’s security needs. As we approach 2025, several European nations have acknowledged that they do not view Ukraine as eligible for NATO membership as it would draw the organization into the middle of the conflict. Others want to wait until the war is over or pending a “peace” settlement before considering Ukrainian membership. Socor reports that some “influential voices” are suggesting that “Kyiv should join NATO after “freezing” the war along a stable armistice line, de facto accepting Ukraine’s partition, with NATO security guarantees applying de jure to the government-controlled territory only.” This would mean starting accession talks soon with the actual talks to commence only after a ceasefire is in place. Trump arrives in Washington at a time when Putin’s hybrid strategies of war in Ukraine have eviscerated commonly-held differences between war and peace. “Absent a political consensus in NATO over Ukrainian membership, certain European allies, including France’s President Emmanuel Macron, are holding informal consultations about post-conflict security guarantees to Kyiv by NATO members outside of NATO’s framework,” according to the Jamestown Foundation. The Biden Administration downplayed the discussions on possible forms of military assistance and defense industry cooperation by sending only an Assistant Secretary of State. For a European peace to hold the Trump Administration would need to formally extend the United States’ nuclear deterrence to Ukraine. Options under discussion in Europe include a “coalition of the resolute” to deploy forces to Ukraine as part of a possible armistice package, deterring further Russian attacks, says Secor. European officials are also debating, without any agreement, whether its military forces could perform non-combat logistical roles to free Ukrainian forces to fight. None of the possible courses of action has moved forward as all eyes are waiting on the incoming Trump Administration for clues about its intended level of support for a NATO framework and other non-NATO proposals. Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept.