US Encircles China

If you follow “The New Atlas” on YouTube, you’ll become acquainted with Brian Berletic (left) who regularly provides geopolitical analysis with a focus on Eurasia. 

 

After being stationed in Okinawa for two years, Berletic, a former US marine, began to fully understand that the US military presence was not about bolstering regional stability – but was in fact undermining it. "It was a source of constant tension", he said. 

 

The United States pours billions of dollars every year into building and maintaining its overseas military bases. But the US military presence in its base nations has triggered protests rather than gratitude. 

 

"We're talking rape, murder, assaults, things like that. US soldiers are infamous for doing this. They particularly target Okinawan women and children, as well as the elderly", said Robert Kajiwara (right), an activist and writer based in Okinawa. 

 

Thirty-one US military installations have been built in Okinawa alone and they are just a fraction of the hundreds of US military bases that encircle China. Every year, the US military flies thousands of spy planes over the South China Sea and naval ships frequent the region with growing intensity. 

 

This situation is made much worse with the US pivot to Asia under the Barack Obama administration, whereby the US pursues a military encirclement of China which in turn, has led Beijing to respond by militarizing the South China Sea, whipping up decades-old disputes which unsurprisingly put it at odds with neighboring countries, including the Philippines. 

 

The United States’ military strategy for China aims to checkmate it within the geographical feature known as “The first island chain” of Asia. This spans down from the Russian Far East, to Japan, to Taiwan, to the Philippines and the islands of the South China Sea. 

 

In other words, a US war against China will be won or lost based on who can dominate this space, which is why America has become so aggressive in respect to both Taiwan and the South China Sea. 

 

And now that the US has made a deal with the Philippines to secure access to four additional military bases, it closes a critical gap in its military encirclement of China. 

 

As noted by the BBC, the bases are “a key bit of real estate which would offer a front seat to monitor the Chinese in the South China Sea and around Taiwan”. This completes an “arc around China” comprised of the US presence in Taiwan, Japan and South Korea. 

 

It is regrettable that the Philippines is kowtowing to the Americans. The country should know that giving enhanced base access to the US will allow the latter to project greater air, naval and intelligence power in the event of a contingency – although it remains to be seen if the Philippines itself would end up becoming an actual combatant in this scenario. 

 

It is therefore, ironic that the US and Western media keep framing Beijing as the threat in this part of the world – but you and I know that the US is actually the provocateur and the aggressor.