A historic shift has gathered pace across Asia this summer.
Over the past several weeks, China has extended maritime patrols to cover Taiwan’s east coast, demonstrating its ability to encircle the island. It has intensified military, trade and diplomatic pressure on Japan and test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile that showcased its growing sea-based nuclear capability.
With an eye on China’s growing power, other countries have drawn closer, revealing the contours of an emerging new security architecture.
Japan has strengthened defense ties with Australia, the Philippines and India, and it is discussing closer cooperation with South Korea. Japan has also scrapped its longstanding restrictions on defense exports and is moving to join South Korea as a regional arms supplier, while Australia has signed new agreements with Pacific Island nations, including a mutual defense pact with Fiji.
Since President Trump’s return to office, uncertainty over his commitment to the defense of Asia has sparked warnings that Beijing could seize the opportunity to be more assertive, pushing U.S. allies to band together.
Those wheels are now turning, bringing new risks: Major changes in global security rarely unfold smoothly.
Yet this doesn’t have to mean we are entering an era of instability for an economically dynamic part of the world that remains vital to U.S. strategic interests. An order in which Asian countries assume greater responsibility for their own defense and rely more on one another — and less on an increasingly distracted United States — could ultimately prove stable and secure.
