US Indo-Pacific chief vows to advance ties in the region to boost stability

By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio, Reporter

THE head of US forces in the Indo-Pacific said Washington aims to deepen military ties among nations in the region to bolster the ability of American forces to ward off threats and maintain peace.

Speaking at the Honolulu Defense Forum, US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel John Paparo, Jr. said his command aims to bolster defense ties with allies to deter aggression and improve its capability to respond to threats.

“We’re continuing to strengthen our alliances and our partnerships, expanding our posture and accelerating advanced capabilities, integration and interoperability because deterrence constantly demands visible capability and credible will,” he said in a recorded speech published on YouTube on Tuesday.

“When we operate with allies and partners, we multiply capability and we raise the threshold for aggression.”

Tensions over the self-ruled Taiwan threatened by Beijing’s plan to takeover, as well as the overlapping claims in South China Sea are among the major flashpoints in the Indo-Pacific, which is home to some of the world’s largest economies and military from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean. Any conflict in this area risks US involvement through its network of alliances there.

Mr. Paparo said the US is assessing China’s growing military power, noting Beijing’s ability to rapidly expand its forces.

“We recognize the pace, scale, and scope of China’s historic military buildup,” he said. “We take it seriously because realism is responsible, and deterrence requires an honest appraisal of capability.”

China lays expansive claims to the South China Sea, asserting control over almost the entire waterway based on a “nine-dash line” map that overlaps with claims by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. A United Nations-backed arbitral tribunal ruled in 2016 that China’s claim is illegal, a decision Beijing has rejected.

Henrietta Levin, a senior fellow and freeman chair in China studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said Beijing has the capability and intent to reshape the regional order and extend its influence beyond.

“China’s very well positioned to set the terms of the debate for the security picture going forward in the coming year,” she told a CSIS forum on Thursday. “China really is the one power with the will, the intent, the capability to reshape the entirety of the international order.”

But China’s bid to assert influence in the region may push other nations closer to the US rather than into Beijing’s orbit despite Washington’s actions that may weaken alliance-building, Thomas J. Christensen, pritzker chair of CSIS’ geopolitics and foreign policy department, said.

“China has been so assertive toward its neighborhood and has driven countries to say ‘we really don’t have any choice but to strengthen our relationships with the United States’ despite these headwinds,” he told the same forum.

Mr. Paparo said the US is strengthening its alliances “in ways that reinforce ASEAN member states’ capability to reduce coercion and preserve sovereignty.”

Manila and Washington are long-time allies, with their security ties anchored on a 1950s Mutual Defense Treaty that obligates both nations to come to each other’s aid in case of an armed attack in the Pacific area, including the South China Sea.

US President Donald J. Trump in December signed a sweeping $900-billion military budget and defense policy bill that includes up to $2.5 billion in multi-year military funding in the next five years to help the Philippines modernize its military to safeguard “maritime domain awareness” and counter “coercive military activities.”

The Philippines has also moved to deepen its alliance with the US, staging more multinational naval drills in contested waters and granting American troops access to select bases.

“The Philippines continues to strengthen its defense and deepen cooperation,” Mr. Paparo said. “The Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement cites increased responsiveness and strengthened deterrence because when a crisis occurs, posture is absolutely indispensable.”