Nikolay Protopopov
Hundreds of thousands of military personnel, carrier strike groups and strategic aviation – the Pentagon is rapidly pumping weapons into the Asia-Pacific region (APR). Washington has come close to forming a military bloc here, which, according to experts, will become an analogue of NATO in Asia. And although the stated goal is to contain China, this will seriously affect the security of Russia. RIA Novosti figured out what the Americans had in mind.
Full control
Talks about creating a military bloc in Asia similar to the North Atlantic Alliance began at the end of the 2000s. In 2007, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe proposed organizing the so-called Quadripartite Security Dialogue with the participation of the United States, Japan, Australia and India in the early stages. Then other Asian countries bordering China were to join. It is obvious that the Americans are behind this, who regard China as the main geopolitical adversary. Japan is highly dependent on the United States – American marines have lo-ng been registered on the islands, powerful bases have been built, Washin-gton is supplying the Japan-ese Self-Defense Forces with weapons and equipment.
Another American satellite in the Pacific is Australia, the main US ally outside NATO. The Australians took part in the Gulf War, fought in Afghanistan and Iraq. The country’s 80,000-strong armed forces have Abrams tanks, M113 armored personnel carriers, M198 and M2A2 howitzers, Javelin missile systems and M4A1 rifles, and there are Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters from aircraft.
According to the General Directorate of the Russian General Staff, the Americans are speeding up the formation of an anti-Chinese coalition based on the Quadripartite Security Dialogue. At the same time, they are actively influencing India. “In addition to Australia and Japan, special importance is attached to the involvement of India in this format, which traditionally builds its foreign policy independently,” said the head of the department, Admiral Igor Kostyukov.
According to Doctor of Military Sciences Konstantin Sivkov, Washington will try to involve other countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia in the alliance.
“They need a wide bloc that would cover the entire western part of the Pacific,” he said. “Of course, this threatens Russia. After all, everything is happening on our eastern borders. US actions could lead to the creation of a Russian-Chinese military alliance. the question for India is to go over to the side of the Americans with rather grave consequences for themselves, or to support Russia. “
Playing on contradictions
The expert suggested that with such a development of events, the Shan-ghai Cooperation Organiz-ation, in which Russia, China and India participate, will turn into a military-political bloc with the joining of other countries.
This will seriously complicate the situation in the region for the United Sta-tes. However, Washington nevertheless expects to establish full control over the APR, which, according to the Russian General Staff, will in the future become the locomotive of the world economy and the arena of rivalry between the leading powers. To pull Delhi into a military bloc, American politicians will play on the long-standing Indian-Chinese contradictions, Konstantin Sokolov, Corresponding Member of the Russian Ac-ademy of Natural Sciences, explains to RIA Novosti.
“There is nothing unexpected in this. India and China are the main ones in the region, the rest have a supporting role. And the goal of the United States, as always, is to fight with someone else’s hands, not to waste its own resources. Military support, security, including information, is a secondary issue. “.
Sokolov also has no doubt that the creation of such a military bloc is frau-ght with the most negative consequences for Russia. “We are historically on friendly terms with China and India,” he points out.
However, experts agree that the formation of a new military coalition in the APR will take more than one year. For the simple reason that these plans have as many opponents as their supporters. “There are enough sane people in India, China, and in other countries,” Sokolov clarifies.
Preparing for war
In recent years, the United States has significantly increased its military grouping in the Pacific region. American warships regularly enter the 12-mile zone around the Paracel Islands and the Spratly archipelago, over which China has been in disputes with several APR countries for decades.
The exercises of the US Navy in the Pacific Ocean near the Chinese waters have also become noticeably more frequent. Thus, in June, the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan entered the South China Sea. According to legend, the carrier strike group acted to ensure the security of the US regional allies. Since 2020, the US Navy has simultaneously deployed three carrier strike groups in the region. And strategic bombers B-52, B-1 and B-2 are periodically transferred to the Andersen airbase on the Mariana Islands. Sometimes up to 15 aircraft carrying nuclear weapons are on duty here.
Increasingly, the Pentagon is engaging friendly countries in maneuvers. For example, Japanese and American sailors have doubled the intensity of joint training. In 2021, they have already met for this 23 times. Beijing naturally protests. But the Americans, in response, declare that they will float wherever international law allows.
The Russian General Staff clarified: the United States has pulled together a 400,000-strong group in the APR. In 2019, the Ameri-cans developed a whole strategy, the goal of which is superiority through a military presence, increased training and combat activities and equipping the armed forces with modern combat systems.
In the Pacific, a few years ago, the Pentagon created a new type of unit – the Multi-Domain Task Force, designed to hack into defenses and destroy key enemy targets. In general, there are over 200 facilities of the US Armed Forces in the region, including over 50 military bases. In addition, Washington plans to deploy the 1st operational fleet to the APR by 2024. The compound will operate in the eastern Indian Ocean. This will free up the resources of the 7th operational fleet and concentrate it on solving problems in the East China and South China Seas, and will intensify military activities to contain the PRC in South and Southeast Asia.
