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The top American military commander in the Asia-Pacific region said Beijing was continuing to put military pressure on countries 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 his policy towards China has shifted to emphasising stability.
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 is so important.”
While Paparo did not name any countries targeted by Beijing, the PLA has recently taken assertive action towards the Philippines, particularly near the disputed Scarborough Shoal.
Ely Ratner, who served as the top Pentagon Asia official under former president Joe Biden, said the Trump administration’s policy of 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.”
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.
Tokyo has been frustrated that the Trump administration has not offered stronger public support in response to the pressure from China. Takaichi is expected to visit Washington to meet Trump this spring.
Japan’s defence minister Shinjiro Koizumi on Monday played down concerns about the US response. “The Japan-US relationship is stronger than ever and we have the strength to overcome various challenges together,” he told reporters at the Honolulu Defense Forum.
“This is exactly what we have learned since the postwar period when two countries who once fought each other have now built a relationship of trust and forged an alliance unlike any other in the world.”
Koizumi is scheduled to meet US defence secretary Pete Hegseth in Washington on Thursday.
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 Pete Hegseth had made clear that Asia-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 former 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.
“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.”
