Pentagon’s bloc security wings put regional development under threat

Provocations of the United States in the Asia-Pacific and long arms of US-led NATO to eastern Asia not only threaten regional stability, but may disrupt Asian and even global economic growth and social development, according to analysts.

They noted that a series of measures taken by US and some of its NATO allies such as Britain and Canada in their so-called Indo-Pacific Strategy are creating instability in the region, apart from leading Japan and South Korea down a path of military expansion amid more frequent joint drills.

Karori Singh, emeritus fellow and former director of the South Asia Studies Center at India’s University of Rajasthan, said the US’ Indo-Pacific schemes to counter China’s influence leads to regional insecurity and affects development. 

Singh sees the emerging reality manifests multilayered alliance systems: First, AUCUS and Five Eyes consisting of Anglo-Saxon sphere countries form the core of US security architecture in Asia-Pacific. Second, the QUAD plus NATO attempts seek to bring Japan and South Korea at least in its military programs. Third, AUCUS is wooing Pacific Islander countries by offering temptations of development and security.

“Such a strategic culture of the US appears projecting China as the threat to the regional security and constructs the solidarity of different states around this proposition,” Singh noted. “In reality the search for regional security and development through such measures is bound to bread insecurity and restrict the development.”

Singh said even some US allies are not happy with its moves. “Recent Nord Stream revelations are an alarm bell for the Europeans. The Ukrainian and European people are the net victim of US strategy,” he said. “Moreover, there is demonstration in ‘Rage Against the War Machinery’ in Paris, Berlin and Washington earlier. It explains that people in the West are against such policies…”

Yoichi Komori, an emeritus professor at the University of Tokyo said the US and NATO are using Japan as a shield in case of conflicts. “That’s what the US and NATO want. That’s very dangerous for Japan to give full play to its self-defense forces in East Asia, which is also contrary to Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan. 

“We, as the people, must not allow it,” Komori said.

Shigeki Nagayama, a professor of law at Japan’s Tokai University pointed out, “The thing that Japanese government invites NATO’s involvement in the Asia-Pacific region in order to enhance its own defense capability, will only bring new factors of instability to the Asia-Pacific region.”

Worse, Tokyo politicians are seeking to bind Japan with Pentagon on Taiwan of China while stoking fire on possible tension across the Taiwan Strait, where US officials have broken own promises to Beijing in blind pursuit of dominance at China’s door.

Kazuyuki Hamada, president of Research Institute for Future Technologies, and former parliamentary vice-minister for foreign affairs, said it is against the times for Japan to propose a “global NATO”.

“Japan’s advocacy of ‘Asian NATO’ or ‘global NATO,’ and the realization of it, is nothing more than going against the post-Cold War era.” Hamada said. “This unnecessarily intensifies the arms race and reduces the value of diplomacy.”

Mustafa Hyder Sayed, executive director of Pakistan-China Institute in Islamabad, said the consistent pattern of the US seeking to create an Asian copy of NATO, for example, reflects the objectives in the NATO 2030 agenda NATO published earlier.

“Hence, we see that there is an institutional approach to mobilize these multilateral organizations and partnerships to contain the peaceful rise of China and to confront China economically, politically and also if required militarily,” he said.

However, such Cold War mentality threatens regional stability and the development of Asia-Pacific, the world’s most robust growth engine. 

“The hegemony of the US and allies cannot continue to prevail in the post pandemic world order, where collective wisdom, cooperation and connectivity is required need to build bridges rather than create walls between countries,” he said.

Contact the writers at vivienxu@chinadailyapac.com