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The top American military commander in the Indo-Pacific region said Beijing was continuing to put military pressure on countries in the region despite the recent stability in US-China political relations.
Speaking at the Honolulu Defense Forum, Admiral Samuel Paparo, head of US Indo-Pacific Command, said the Chinese military had been acting assertively towards countries across south-east Asia.
US-China relations have stabilised since President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping held a summit in South Korea in October. Since then, the US president has made clear to his cabinet that the goal of American policy towards China has shifted to emphasising stability in relations between the two countries.
Asked if this had translated into a less aggressive posture by the People’s Liberation Army in the South China Sea and towards Taiwan, Paparo said: “You see continued pressure being imposed on [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] countries.”
“While strategic stability has begun to define the [US-China] relationship, we do see continued tests of that,” Paparo added. “That’s why the cohesion of our alliances and our partnerships are so important.”
While Paparo did not name any countries, the PLA has recently taken assertive action towards the Philippines, particularly near the disputed Scarborough Shoal.
The PLA has also boosted activity around the Senkaku Islands — which are administered by Japan but claimed by China — in the East China Sea after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said a Chinese attack on Taiwan could pose an “existential threat” to Japan that would justify it deploying its military.
Japanese defence minister Shinjiro Koizumi is expected to address the Honolulu forum later on Monday.
Japan has been frustrated that the Trump administration has not offered stronger public support for Tokyo in response to the pressure from China. Takaichi is expected to visit Washington to meet Trump this spring.
In December, the Trump administration released a new National Security Strategy that appeared to reduce the focus on security threats from China and placed a new emphasis on the western hemisphere — a development that raised concerns among some US allies.
But Paparo said US defence secretary Pete Hegseth had made clear that the Indo-Pacific remained a priority since it was the theatre where the “greatest threats” to America could emerge.
The former fighter pilot also dismissed suggestions that recent US military campaigns outside Asia — such as the extraction of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro this month and the bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities last year — had affected his command’s ability to provide sufficient deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region.
“We’ve not seen any of those operations actually divert any forces,” Paparo said. “None of those have really imposed any cost at all on our ability to fight and win in the Indo-Pacific.”
Ely Ratner, who was the top Pentagon Asia official in the Biden administration, said stressing stability in US-China relations was a mistake.
“Beijing’s strategy is clear: string along the US with promises of co-operation, drive a wedge between Washington and its allies and coerce the region into submission,” said Ratner, who is now principal at the Marathon Initiative think-tank.
“When we emphasise the US-China relationship above our alliances, we’re doing Beijing’s work for them.”
