US Will ‘Spoil Its Future’ in Asia-Pacific by Dragging Nations Into Its Conflict With China
Subscribe
Australia, the United States, and nearly a dozen other nations kicked off the largest-ever Talisman Saber war games on Friday, which experts have noted is obviously aimed at preparing for a future war with China. One expert told Sputnik the US was clearly trying to drag other nations into its confrontation with China, for fear of its own weakness.
Once a bilateral drill between the forces of Canberra and Washington, this year it includes 13 nations and 30,000 troops. The drills are rehearsing conflict with a fictional adversary called “Olvania” in various locations across Australia and the surrounding region, and includes many of the advanced weapons systems the US has supplied to Ukraine in recent months, including the HIMARS rocket system and the M1 Abrams main battle tank, which are now being marketed to other countries.
Artyom Garin, an expert from the Center for Southeast Asia, Australia and Oceania at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Sputnik that the US is rehearsing not only a military clash with China, but drawing other regional nations into the confrontation as well.
“This is a rehearsal, partly a coordination of actions in case the United States really clashes with China. China does not need a clash with the United States, because China has huge economic and political influence in the region, and it has achieved this by completely legal means,” he explained.
“At the same time, the United States is losing its influence in the region, and in economic terms, they cannot do anything to oppose China. In political terms, their influence is also significantly reduced, so for the United States, armed conflict and destabilization of the region may be its only option to somehow maintain its presence there, regardless of the fact that they will only spoil their future in the region,” Garin said.
Previously, these exercises were limited to the participation of only a limited cohort of US and Australian allied states in the region. The exercise has now become a global military operation involving leading NATO members. Of particular significance is the fact that, for the first time in history, the German armed forces are participating - the longtime NATO partner which has found itself in the very center of the remilitarization of Europe and one of the main actors in the US-NATO war against Russia, which is being waged with the help of Ukraine.
Vladislav Belov, the deputy director of the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, believes that the participation of NATO countries in the Australian drills indicates how deep the inroads are in the Asia-Pacific region that the North Atlantic alliance has made. Belov has also noted that NATO’s interests in the region are already represented by the AUKUS bloc.
“Germany's participation in these exercises is a continuation of the policy that it has been pursuing for a long time,” Garin explained. “It is connected with the willingness to take on more responsibility, to participate in resolving conflict situations that may arise in this region. It is clear that, first of all, Taiwan is one of the possible conflicts of the future. Germany is showing its allies and partners that it is ready to participate in this conflict.”
Here, he recalled the term used by Chen Hong, the director of the Center for Australian Studies at Shanghai’s Eastern China Normal University, who has spoken about the “Asia-Pacificization of NATO.”
“This year, the Talisman Saber exercise is aimed at practicing coordination tasks between the US military and its allies and partners,” Chen said. “The direction of the tactical plan of military exercises against China is obvious. ‘Talisman Saber’ was originally a military exercise between Australia and the US, but this time, 13 countries took part in the exercise, making this year's exercise the largest ever. Against the backdrop of the ‘NATO in the Asia-Pacific’ concept promoted by the United States and its Western partners, the promotion of the presence of Germany, France and Great Britain in the region through these exercises seriously violates the security situation in the Asia-Pacific region.”
Hong told Sputnik it was obvious that the drills are intended to display both aggressiveness and scale, although he noted that “their internal cohesion of the participants and the strategic momentum are very weak.”
“In fact, most of the countries participating in these exercises were ‘invited’ to participate under pressure from the United States, and at the same time, from the point of view of their own national strategy, they do not have the potential to carry out any military adventure directed against China,” he explained.
“Even the ‘protagonist’ of the exercises - Australia - is not set to confront China. These exercises involve the western, northern and northeastern coasts of Australia, which clearly indicates plans for a deep involvement of the country in the maelstrom of a military conflict. This is contrary to Australia's long-term and overall national strategy. The imposition by the United States of the Asia-Pacific region of its ‘Indo-Pacific strategy’ directed against China seriously threatens the peace, stability and development of the region,” Hong said.
“This has already caused serious concern among some allies and partners of the United States and will cause more and more concern among civilians in the Asia-Pacific region,” he noted.
Last week, Japan Self-Defense Force units, along with US Marines and Australian soldiers, conducted their first shootings in Australia. A number of new weapons are also being tested out in the drills, including Japan’s Type 12 surface-launched anti-ship missiles and South Korea’s K239 Chunmoo multiple-launch rocket system (MLRS).
Japan and South Korea can also see these exercises as an opportunity to develop their military industry and a way to prove that their equipment can adapt well to different climatic conditions and be used all over the world, which will increase their arms exports.
