(Headline USA) The head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said on Tuesday that he was “very, very concerned” about China’s aggression toward Philippine forces near disputed islands in the South China Sea.
The Chinese coast guard has repeatedly clashed with Philippine patrol vessels near the Philippines-occupied Second Thomas Shoal.
Last month, several Filipino seamen were injured when a Chinese vessel sideswiped a smaller Philippine vessel and another two Chinese coast guard ships used high-pressure water spray to shatter the Philippine vessel’s windscreen.
Asked if the submerged reef in the Spratly Islands was the most dangerous flash point in his area of command, U.S. Adm. John Aquilino said he was “very concerned about what’s happening at the Second Thomas Shoal” during a forum at the Lowy Institute, a Sydney-based international policy think tank.
“I’m very, very concerned about the direction it’s going,” Aquilino said.
“These actions are dangerous, illegal and they are destabilizing the region,” he added. “What’s next and how far are they willing to go in that area?”
The United States, Japan, the Philippines and Australia held their first four-way joint exercises in Philippine waters in the South China Sea on Sunday, which they said were intended to uphold freedom of navigation and overflight in a region contested by China.
Aquilino said the joint exercise demonstrated the nations’ ability to operate safely, effectively and lawfully in the region.
“Those types of events and things are exactly what we need to do to demonstrate that strength amongst the like-minded allies and partners and that we will continue to operate anywhere that international law allows,” Aquilino said.
China’s military said Sunday that it had conducted air and sea patrols and that all activities that “disrupt the South China Sea” are under control, an apparent response to naval exercises by the U.S. and its allies.
With President Joe Biden having hosted Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a state dinner at the White House this week and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visiting China, some see subtle signs that the Democrat president—whose family notoriously engaged in a massive influence-peddling operations with Chinese businessmen linked to the CCP—may be shifting his once sympathetic tone toward the trans-Pacific adversary.
“China is going to eat our lunch? Come on, man… They’re not bad folks, folks … They’re not competition for us,” Biden said in a May 2019 speech, according to Axios.
In the past month, however, the Biden administration has upped its rhetoric over a Chinese hacking operation, recently blaming Microsoft for allowing a security breach of its Outlook email platform.
The retirement of longtime State Department fixture Victoria Nuland—the acting deputy secretary of State for political affairs, who specialized in fomenting the conflict between Ukraine and Russia—was reportedly precipitated by the decision to pass over Nuland for the permanent appointment to replace retired deputy Wendy Sherman.
Instead, Biden tapped Kurt Campbell, sometimes referred to as his “Asia czar,” to the influential post just beneath Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the chain of command.
Some leftist media outlets, such as the New York Times, have even sounded the alarm that China could be the next Russia in terms of wild accusations of election interference and campaign collusion with GOP presumptive nominee Donald Trump.
While the baseless efforts to link Trump to China are not likely to be believed following the yearslong Russia hoax and Trump’s own strong stance against the country while president, the timing of such stories in media outlets that work closely with intelligence agencies like the CIA and FBI to push propaganda may be significant nonetheless.
A war with China—which would likely draw in Russia, Japan and many other countries—would result in a dramatic shift in America’s election-year politics, perhaps drawing attention away from the failures of Biden’s domestic agenda, including rising inflation, crime and immigraton, as well as the culture of corruption that has consumed Washington, D.C.
Although anxieties might otherwise lead voters to resist rocking the boat in the midst of a major security threat, Biden’s own role in creating that security threat—and Trump’s past executive experience as a peace-time president—might also work to the latter’s benefit.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
