Increased US imperialist warmongering in the Indo-Pacific

The US imperialists are conducting an unprecedented number of joint military exercises with other countries in the region which it calls the “Indo-Pacific”.  These military exercises are driven by the increasingly aggressive stance of US imperialism towards China.  The East and South China Seas in particular, are home to various unresolved disputes between China and some other countries in the region.  The US is fishing in these troubled waters, with the aim of lining up those countries in a hostile front against China.

American-waeshipIn March this year, the US engaged in as many as four major military exercises — with India, Thailand, South Korea and Japan.

From March 18 to 31, the US and India conducted an exercise named Tiger-Triumph-24, off India’s east coast.  This exercise involved all the three services — army, navy and air force.  It was reported to be the largest such bilateral exercise between the US and India.

From February 27 to March 8, the US and Thailand engaged in another military exercise, called Cobra Gold 2024, which is said to be the largest such exercise in mainland Asia.

On March 17, the US and Japan ended their bilateral military exercise called Iron Fist 24.  This annual military exercise earlier used to be conducted in California in the US, but for the first time this year it was shifted to Japan, in the neighbourhood of the  islands of Okinoerabu and Okinawa, near the Senkaku (Chinese name: Diaoyu) islands which both China and Japan claim.

In February, the US Navy conducted a trilateral drill in the South China Sea with the Japanese and Australian naval forces.

From February 18 to 27, US warships also took part in the Indian Navy’s multilateral military exercise named Milan in the Bay of Bengal.

Coming up, from the third week of April to the first week of May, the US will be holding military exercises with the Philippines called Balikatan (meaning “shoulder to shoulder”).  The Philippines has been engaged in increasing maritime hostilities with China in recent weeks.  The exercises will cover areas in Palawan province of the Philippines in the South China Sea, which have seen several confrontations between Philippine and Chinese forces over the last year.  It will also take place in islands facing Taiwan, where US-China contention is increasing.  According to reports, the exercise will include ship sinking.  Australia will join the exercise, as will France for the first time.  Under the present government of Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the Philippines has doubled the number of bases to which the US forces can have access, under a revived defence pact.

Aside from these military exercises, Philippine President Marcos, US President Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida are holding their first trilateral summit on April 11.

All these activities clearly show that the US is ratcheting up tensions in the East and South China Seas, and is also drawing India into its campaign.  Its aim is to use the hitherto unresolved land and maritime boundary disputes in the region to forge a coalition with its close allies, under its leadership, directed against China.  In the event of any planned or unplanned hostilities between the forces involved, as a result of the heightened military activity in the region, it will be the people of this region that will suffer.

The Indian government is wading into these troubled waters too.  External Affairs Minister Jaishankar visited the Philippines on March 26, just when diplomatic and military tensions between China and the Philippines have been running at a peak, and pointedly said that “I take this opportunity to firmly reiterate India’s support to the Philippines for upholding its national sovereignty.”  The Indian government is participating in the dangerous game of US imperialism, as part of its own contention with China.

The US has no business bringing its warships, planes and forces into this part of the world.  Far from ensuring what it calls “a free and open Indo-Pacific”, it is doing everything possible to raise tensions in the region, in pursuit of its own imperialist interests of dominating the Indo-Pacific.

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