U.S. military power gathers in the Indo-Pacific… Reinforcement of ‘Chinese checks’ on US deployment abroad

The US government’s military pressure on China is expected to intensify. As the Pentagon recently finalized its “review of the deployment of US troops stationed abroad” (GPR), it declared that it would strengthen cooperation with its allies and allies in the Indo-Pacific region “to deter potential military aggression from China.”

At a briefing on the 29th (local time) on the 29th (local time), U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Mara Kalin announced the results of the GPR.

The U.S. Department of Defense has been working on GPR since February of this year after Joe Biden took office, and the result came out in nine months.

In the announcement of the GPR results and the briefing of Deputy Secretary Carlin, the U.S. Department of Defense disclosed only the outline of the detailed plan for the first time on the grounds that “the detailed plan requires additional consultation with allies and allies.”

However, the public opinion alone is a general evaluation of related experts that “the US is expected to further strengthen military cooperation with its allies and allies in the Indo-Pacific region in order to check China’s expansionary moves in the future.”

In this regard, the U.S. Department of Defense said that the detailed plan according to the GPR “includes seeking a broader regional approach to military cooperation activities.” Suggested plans for rotation, etc.

Australia is a member of the ‘AUKUS’, a security alliance officially launched in September this year along with the United States and the United Kingdom. The three countries have agreed to regularly operate a high-level consultative body to coordinate foreign and security policies, and in particular, the US and the UK have agreed to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarine construction technology.

Considering that there was an early interpretation from the launch of ‘Ocus’ that “the provision of nuclear submarine technology to Australia is to check China’s advance into the Western Pacific” It is interpreted that this was materialized in order to strengthen interoperability with U.S. forces in the region.

A military source said, “The rotation of US Air Force forces in Australia was already agreed upon at the US-Australia foreign affairs and defense ministers (2+2) meeting held in September. The conflict between China and Australia, which has intensified due to China’s ban on coal imports from Australia and China, is likely to extend to the military sector as well.”

The U.S., Australian and Indian navies and a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force ship participate in the ‘Malabar’ exercise held in Arabia in November last year. © AFP=News1

Australia, along with Japan and India, is a member of the US-led ‘quad’ and is already playing a pivotal role in the ‘free and open Indo-Pacific’ (FOIP) strategy in areas such as trade and technology, that is, the US’ strategy to contain China. .

In addition, the US Department of Defense announced that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had approved the conversion of the attack helicopter (AH-64 Apache) unit and artillery brigade, which had been rotationally deployed to USFK, to a permanent presence.

On the surface, the decision of the US Department of Defense appears to be a measure to strengthen the deterrence power of USFK against North Korea in the face of North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.

However, there is an interpretation that “there is also the aspect of preparing for a situation in which US forces in Korea will be deployed to areas other than the Korean Peninsula in the future.”

The U.S. military has expanded the rotational deployment of U.S. troops stationed around the world, including the Korean Peninsula, in accordance with the principle of strengthening strategic flexibility. However, concerns have been raised that “the larger the rotational deployment scale, the less the number of U.S. troops stationed on the Korean Peninsula may interfere with maintaining the ROK-U.S. combined defense posture.”

The source said, “The U.S. decision to permanently station helicopters and artillery units on the Korean Peninsula means that these units will be specialized in the battlefield environment on the Korean Peninsula. In the view of the USFK as a whole, these forces will be used as the minimum required to maintain a combined defense posture. “In this case, there is a possibility that the role range of the other troops subject to rotation will be ‘Korean Peninsula plus alpha (+α)’.”

South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense also said, “The main purpose of USFK is to prevent armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula, but it is also playing an important role in promoting peace and stability in Northeast Asia.”

In the midst of this, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhao Lijian said that the U.S. Department of Defense’s GPR results revealed its intention to militarize the Indo-Pacific region and to encircle and deter China. I firmly oppose using it as an excuse for military hegemony.”

“China’s national defense development is to safeguard sovereignty, security, interests, and international peace and security,” said Zhao. “He also claimed.

ys4174@news1.kr