Think Tank: A contested Asia - What comes after US strategic predominance? (Part 1)

Peter Varghese

Those who indulge in the phoney debate about the need for an independent Australian foreign policy should pay more attention to the history of Australia’s Asia policy. There’s nothing derivative about Australia’s approach to Asia. The images of Asia in our historical imagination: Asia as alien, Asia as a security threat, Asia as an economic opportunity, Asia as the fulcrum of our core strategic and economic interests, all came from a distinctively Australian imagination. You can query its correctness but not its authenticity.

Those who insist Australia has no independent foreign policy usually mean we have the wrong foreign policy. That Australia could make an independent, much less an informed, judgement that our national interests are served by a close alliance with the United States is dismissed as sycophancy and a stubborn refusal to stand on our own two feet.

It’s true that many Australian governments have struggled with whether and how to disagree with the US. We’ve yet to fully learn when we can say ‘no’ and when we must say ‘yes’ to our ally. Too often we’ve seen the alliance as an insurance policy to which we need to make regular payments of acquiescence.

We should not fret about how compatible the alliance is with our interests in Asia.

News Story: US planning more regular South China Sea patrols - report

The Pentagon is planning to conduct more regular patrols in the South China Sea -- as many as two to three a month -- to assert freedom of navigation in disputed waters claimed by China, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The newspaper said the aim is to create a more consistent posture to counter China's maritime claims, rather than a more ad hoc approach favored during Barack Obama's administration.

US officials declined to say where or when the new patrols would be made, but said the plan developed by the US Pacific Command calls for two or three so-called "freedom of navigation" operations a month over the next few months.

Future patrols also could include US military aircraft as well as US Navy warships, the Journal said.

There have been three "freedom of navigation" operations since President Donald Trump took office in January -- the last one by the USS John S. McCain, a destroyer that collided with a cargo ship days later off Singapore, killing 10 sailors.

Read the full story at VietnamPlus

News Story: Closer China-U.S. military ties conducive to global stability

BEIJING, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- A fruitful visit by the top U.S. military officer to China bodes well for closer bilateral military ties, which would play a constructive role in managing security crises and safeguarding stability and peace around the world.

Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), a body of uniformed leaders in the U.S. Department of Defense, kicked off his visit to China on Tuesday for further military-to-military cooperation between the two countries.

Dunford has exchanged views with his Chinese counterpart Fang Fenghui over issues including the Korean nuclear crisis and the South China Sea, and signed a framework agreement on a China-U.S. joint staff dialogue mechanism, seen as a highlight during his three-day stay.

The document, which aims to improve communications between the two militaries and reduce the risk of miscalculations, is a key part of efforts made by China and the United States to jointly maintain the stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific as well as the world at large.

Military interactions between the world's top two economies have been considered to be in need of more attention in the overall China-U.S. relations.

With joint efforts in overcoming difficulties, China and the United States have witnessed increasing military links in recent years by enhancing military exchanges and strengthening pragmatic cooperation.

Read the full story at Xinhua

Related Story: Xi calls for enhanced China-U.S. military ties

News Report: We Can Work it Out? US, China Announce Intention to Strengthen Military Ties

American and Chinese military leaders have announced a commitment to “work through difficult issues” to strengthen military ties and improve bilateral relations between the world’s two largest economies.

General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the highest-ranking military officer of the United States Armed Forces, traveled to Beijing to meet with his approximate Chinese counterpart Fang Fenghui, chief of the Joint Staff Department of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and one of China's highest ranking military officials.

According to a statement from the Chinese Defense Ministry, Fang told Dunford that both nations should "push forward stable military ties as an important and major stabilizing factor in bilateral relations"

"We have many, many difficult issues where we don't necessarily share the same perspective," Dunford replied. "We share a commitment to work through these difficult issues."

He added that they had signed a framework to build a new communication mechanism between the two states that would strengthen Sino-US cooperation.

News Story: U.S. unilateral measures to shaken multilateral trade framework - UN official

GENEVA, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. unilateral punishing trade measures, based on outdated national laws, against its trade partners are not in line with the international laws and could shaken the foundation of an established multilateral trade framework, a UN trade official warned on Tuesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday directed the U.S. trade representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer to examine China's intellectual property practices, despite worries about potential harms to China-U.S. trade ties.

The USTR will determine "whether to investigate any of China's laws, policies, practices, or actions" that "may be harming American intellectual property rights, innovation or technology development" under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, according to a memorandum released by the White House.

Section 301, once heavily used in the 1980s and the early 1990s, allows the U.S. president to unilaterally impose tariffs or other trade restrictions against foreign countries, but the U.S. has rarely used the trade tool since the WTO came into being in 1995.

Liang Guoyong, Economic Affairs Officer at the Investment and Enterprise Division of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), said such an examination under Section 301 could serve as a tool for the U.S. to strike a bargain with China, and any tariffs or restricting trade measures thereof imposed unilaterally by the U.S. could shaken the foundation of a multilateral trade framework.

The repercussions would be a high risk of a trade war which will benefit neither of the two countries, he added.

Read the full story at Xinhua

Related Story: China expresses "grave concerns" about new U.S. memorandum

USA: Dunford Arrives in China

Gen. Joe Dunford (Image: Wiki Commons)

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Aug. 14, 2017 — Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Beijing today, the chairman's office said in a statement. This is Dunford's first visit to China as the chairman.

The chairman's trip is in support of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s diplomatic and economic campaign to deter North Korea, defense officials said. Success in that campaign would be a North Korean commitment to denuclearization and a halt of missile tests, they added.

In Beijing, Dunford said his primary objective will be to "continue to develop our military-to-military relationships, to mitigate the risk of miscalculation in the region and to have cooperation where those opportunities exist.”

The chairman will be hosted by his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Fang Fenghui, chief of the Joint Staff Department. "The visit underscores U.S. interest in further developing military-to-military relationships between the United States and China," the statement said.

US DoD

News Report: What May Be Behind US Admiral Statement About Nuking China

Adm. Scott Swift (Image: Wiki Commons)

The commander of the United States Pacific Fleet said Thursday that he would launch a nuclear strike on China if President Donald Trump ordered it. Sputnik discussed with military expert Anatoly Tsyganok what could be behind the controversial statement.

Responding to a hypothetical question at a security conference at the Australian National University, Adm. Scott Swift said, “Every member of the US military has sworn an oath to defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic and to obey the officers and the president of the United States as commander and chief appointed over us.”

The head of the Russian Center for Military Forecasting, Anatoly Tsyganok suggested that the reason behind this statement might be provocation with the aim of seeing the reactions of Beijing and Moscow or it may simply be rash words.

News Story: China's development not a threat to other countries - FM spokesperson

BEIJING, July 27 (Xinhua) -- China adheres to an independent foreign policy of peace and is committed to peaceful and cooperative development, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said Thursday.

Lu made the remarks at a daily press briefing in response to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo's comments.

According to reports, Pompeo branded China, Russia and Iran as major future threats to the United States, and singled out China as the most serious security challenge due to its "robust economy" and "growing military power." He also said that Chinese spies have been cyberspying to gain both commercial and military secrets and technology from the United States.

"In his logic, whoever poses the strongest economic and military power becomes the biggest threat to the world," Lu said.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: Beijing’s ‘Sphere of Influence’ to Expand if US Navy Fails to Grow

If the US Navy’s 275-ship fleet does not reach the Pentagon’s goal of 355 vessels, Washington is "more or less incentivizing the [Chinese Navy] into thinking they could achieve a sphere of influence," Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi said Tuesday.

US President Donald Trump vowed on the campaign trail to grow the US fleet to 350 ships—a target in line with the Congressional Research Service’s 2016 conclusion that 355 ships are required to meet national security strategy goals.

But financing fleet growth and doing so in a timely manner constitute major obstacles to achieving that aim. At current construction rates, the Navy will not possess a 350-ship force until at least 2035, the Congressional Budget Office’s Eric Labs told the US Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower on Tuesday.

Naval expert Jerry Hendrix from the Center for a New American Security League stressed to the Senate panel that major investments in the US shipbuilding industry would be essential for sending a message to other global powers not to mess with the US at sea.

News Report: Beijing Urges US to Avoid Provocative Actions in China's Coastal Area

China hopes that the US Navy will avoid provocative actions in China's coastal area, as they may have a negative impact on the relations between the two countries, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lu Kang said Tuesday.

BEIJING (Sputnik) — On Monday, US Department of Defense spokesperson Capt. Jeff Davis said that two Chinese J-10 fighter jets intercepted Sunday a US surveillance plane in the East China Sea, nearly colliding with it.

"Recently the US vessels have often come close to China's coastal areas for surveillance purposes, such actions have negative impact on China-US relations and pose a threat to China's security… Beijing hopes that the United States will stop these activities and will avoid incident like the one noted," Lu said, commenting on the recent incident.

He stressed that China had always complied with international law to ensure safe, over-sea flights, and had always ensured mutual trust in its relations with other countries in order to resolve emerging disputes in a constructive way.

Chinese authorities have repeatedly voiced their protests against US actions in the region, which are considered by Beijing as violations of its own sovereignty. On July, Beijing expressed its outrage over US guided-missile destroyer USS Stethem entering the waters off the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, known in China as the Xisha Islands. According to Lu, the US actions violated Chinese law as well as international law, and constituted a serious political and military provocation.

This story first appeared on Sputnik & is reposted here with permission.

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PacificSentinel: Pot calls Kettle BLACK

News Story: Chinese vice premier calls for cooperation to address differences between China and U.S.

WASHINGTON, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang on Wednesday called for cooperation between China and the United States instead of confrontation to address their differences.

"China and the U.S. are each other's biggest trading partner and important source of investment. Cooperation is a realistic choice for both sides," Wang said in his opening remarks at the first China-U.S. Comprehensive Economic Dialogue here Wednesday.

"Dialogue cannot immediately address all differences, but confrontation will immediately damage the interests of both," said Wang.

He noted that cooperation between China and the U.S. not only benefits businesses and peoples of the two countries but the world as a whole.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: China lodges representations to US over defense act concerning Taiwan

BEIJING, July 17 (Xinhua) -- China has lodged solemn representations to the United States over a defense act that suggests re-establishing ports of call between the United States and Taiwan.

The National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2018, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives Friday, contains controversial provisions about re-establishing regular ports of call by the U.S. Navy at Kaohsiung or any other suitable ports in Taiwan and permitting U.S. Pacific Command to receive ports of call by Taiwan.

"Relevant provisions seriously violate the one-China policy and the three China-U.S. joint communiques upheld by the U.S. and infringes upon China's domestic affairs," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said at a regular news briefing.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: China and South Korea Urge Diplomacy as US Leaders Hint at Military Action

Officials with both the South Korean and the Chinese foreign ministries have called for restraint and diplomacy from the US and North Korea following a missile launch that the latter claimed was proof that they had acquired intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capabilities.

The Chinese comments came from Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, who stressed for the Americans and North Koreans "to stay calm, exercise restraint, refrain from words and deeds that may heighten tensions, and jointly make effort for the easing of tensions" in a Thursday statement to reporters.

The White House originally made China the centerpiece of their plan to peacefully resolve the Korean missile crisis, but now it seems that US President Donald Trump is moving away from that policy. "Trade between China and North Korea grew almost 40% in the first quarter. So much for China working with us — but we had to give it a try!" the American president tweeted on Wednesday.

Geng replied to Trump's criticism in his comments: "As a neighboring country of the DPRK, China has maintained normal economic relations and trade. According to the DPRK-related resolutions, relevant economic sanctions should not harm the livelihood and normal humanitarian need of the DPRK."

News Story: Trump questions sincerity of China's efforts to rein in N. Korea

By Chang Jae-soon

WASHINGTON, July 5 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday questioned the sincerity of China's efforts to pressure North Korea, pointing out a sharp increase in the country's trade with the communist neighbor.

"Trade between China and North Korea grew almost 40% in the first quarter. So much for China working with us -- but we had to give it a try!" Trump said in a Twitter posting.

It was Trump's latest expression of frustration after months of fruitless efforts to persuade China to exercise more of its influence as the North's economic lifeline to rein in the regime. China accounts for nearly 90 percent of the North's total trade.

Trump's frustration appears to have deepened after the North stunned the world with its first test Tuesday of an intercontinental ballistic missile apparently capable of striking the United States.

Read the full story at YonhapNews

News Story: US Kicks Off Navy Drills With Vietnam After China Slams 'Serious Provocation'

Just days after the US sent a guided-missile destroyer near a disputed South China Sea island claimed by three nations, Washington’s Navy initiated naval drills with Vietnam.

The USNS Salvor and the USS Coronado on Wednesday sailed into Vietnam’s Cam Ranh International Port, where they will engage in annual “Naval Engagement Activity” (NEA), a joint collaboration set to take place over five days. 

According to a Navy statement these exercises will include practicing the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES), ship handling and medical evaluations along with skill exchanges for law, shipboard damage control and shipboard medicine.

"The United States values our comprehensive partnership with Vietnam and we look forward to deepening our relationship and people-to-people ties through engagements like NEA," Task Force 73 Commander Rear Adm. Don Gabrielson said in a statement. 

"By working and interacting together regularly we foster meaningful relationships and trust between our nations that contribute to the peace and prosperity of the region." 

News Report: Trump Attacks China's Growing Trade with North Korea

Ken Bredemeier

President Donald Trump assailed China on Wednesday for boosting its trade with North Korea, the latest of several broadsides Washington has leveled at Beijing in recent days.

Trump offered his criticism just before heading to Poland and later to Germany for a G-20 summit of leaders of the world's leading economies that includes a meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping. In a Twitter comment, Trump said, "Trade between China and North Korea grew almost 40% in the first quarter. So much for China working with us - but we had to give it a try!"

Trade between China and North Korea grew almost 40% in the first quarter. So much for China working with us - but we had to give it a try!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 5, 2017

News Report: After Pyongyang's Missile Launch, Trump Signals He May Give Up on China’s Xi

The Trump administration, following what Washington officials are saying was North Korea’s first launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, has suggested that Washington may go it alone on Pyongyang, unless China makes a “heavy move” toward disarming the isolated country.

US President Donald Trump and his advisors have suggested, in light of Pyongyang's suspected ICBM launch on Monday, that unless China takes the kind of action his administration demands, Washington will act alone against a consistently belligerent People's Democratic Republic of Korea (DPRK) that has steadfastly refused to scale down its nuclear weapons program.

Trump's Sunday night phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping preceded the missile launch, and was cordial but blunt, according to the New York Times, as the US president warned that the White House would act alone, if need be, to stop Pyongyang's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons program.

The announcement of Washington's willingness to act alone is seen as a clear indication that any honeymoon between Trump's administration and Beijing is over, as the US has recently completed a large sale of weapons to Taiwan, threatened Beijing with trade sanctions, and accused China of widespread human trafficking.

News Report: Shaky Friendship - New S China Sea Incident Puts US-China Ties to Hard Test

Beijing described Monday’s incident with a US missile destroyer, which entered Chinese territorial waters off the Xisha/Paracel Islands in South China Sea as a “provocation” and a violation of the country’s sovereignty.

"Under the pretext of ‘freedom of navigation’, the US side once again sent a military vessel into China's territorial waters off the Xisha Islands without China's approval. Its behavior has violated the Chinese law and relevant international law, infringed upon China's sovereignty, disrupted peace, security and order of the relevant waters and put in jeopardy the facilities and personnel on the Chinese islands, and thus constitutes a serious political and military provocation,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

US will fly and sail everywhere

The US responded by saying that the USS Stethem acted in line with international law and the US “Freedom of Navigation” program and that the US Air Force and Navy would continue to fly and sail where they deemed fit.

A State Department official told RIA that “the US forces in the Asia-Pacific region, including the South-China Sea, act on a daily basis fully in line with international law and will fly, sail and act wherever it is allowed by international law.”

News Story: Xi, Trump exchange views on G20 summit, Korean Peninsula via phone

BEIJING, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump held a telephone conversation on Monday, exchanging views on bilateral ties, the upcoming G20 summit and the Korean Peninsula issue.

During the conversation, Xi stressed that important results have been achieved in bilateral relations between China and the United States since the Mar-a-Lago meeting between the two heads of state.

Meanwhile, China-U.S. relations have also been affected by some negative factors, and the Chinese side has already expressed its position to the United States, Xi said.

The Chinese president also said that his country attaches great importance to Trump's reaffirmation that the United States will adhere to the one-China policy.

China hopes that the United States will handle the Taiwan issue appropriately in accordance with the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, Xi said.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: US Arms Sales to Taiwan Violate International Rights – Chinese Foreign Ministry

By selling weapons to China, the United States violates international rights, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Friday, adding Beijing has already officially protested the new US arms sales deal.

BEIJING (Sputnik) – On Thursday, US President Donald Trump's administration approved a $1.42 billion arms sale to Taiwan. The deal includes deliveries of anti-radiation missiles, heavyweight torpedoes, components for SM-2 missiles and air-to-ground missiles.

"China has already lodged protests with the US side here in Beijing and in Washington. Taiwan is an inseparable part of China. By selling arms to Taiwan, the Unites States gravely violates the international rights and fundamental principles of foreign relations," Lu said at the press briefing.