<\/p>\n
Peter Symonds<\/p>\n
Top US defence officials made a series of inflammatory statements this week about China\u2019s activities in the South China Sea, in order to justify the Pentagon\u2019s accelerating military build-up in the Indo-Pacific and to push for an expanded defence budget. The only conclusion that can be drawn is that advanced preparations are being made for war with China.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday, Defence Secretary Ashton Carter accused China of increasing the risk of \u201cmiscalculation or conflict\u201d between regional countries by its military presence in the South China Sea. \u201cChinese behaviour is having the effect of self-isolation, and it\u2019s also galvanising others to take action against it,\u201d he declared, noting that allies and partners were increasingly working with the US.<\/p>\n
The South China Sea has been a central focus of the Obama administration\u2019s \u201cpivot to Asia\u201d since US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared in mid-2010 that the US had a \u201cnational interest\u201d in ensuring \u201cfreedom of navigation\u201d through the contested waters. Washington has deliberately stoked up tensions and exploited longstanding maritime disputes to drive a wedge between Beijing and rival claimants, especially Vietnam and the Philippines.<\/p>\n
Carter claimed that the US was \u201cnot out to keep China down\u201d but \u201cwe don\u2019t look for anyone to dominate the region and certainly not for anybody to push the United States out.\u201d The purpose of the \u201cpivot,\u201d however, is precisely to ensure the ongoing hegemony of US imperialism in Asia. That requires the subordination of China to Washington\u2019s interests. \u201cWe are a Pacific power. We are there to stay,\u201d he declared emphatically.<\/p>\n
Carter\u2019s message was reinforced by General Joe Dunford, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, who told the committee that China was developing capabilities that \u201care intended to limit our ability to move into the Pacific or to operate freely within the Pacific.\u201d He insisted that the US had to maintain its \u201ccompetitive advantage versus China\u201d which was why \u201cwe are fielding the most modern capabilities of the [Defence] Department to the Pacific first.\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of the \u201cpivot,\u201d the Pentagon is planning to station 60 percent of its air and naval assets to the Indo-Pacific by 2020. The US military build-up is already well underway, including the forging of new basing arrangements with Australia, the Philippines and Singapore, as well as the restructuring of US bases in Japan, South Korea and Guam. Under the guise of countering the threat posed by North Korea, the Pentagon is preparing to base \u201cstrategic assets\u201d\u2014that is, nuclear-capable aircraft and anti-ballistic missile systems\u2014on the Korean Peninsula.<\/p>\n
Admiral Harry Harris, commander of the US Pacific Command (PACOM), made by far the most bellicose comments in testimony to the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively, and during a press conference at the Pentagon on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Harris, who took over as PACOM chief last May, has aggressively pressed for supposed \u201cfreedom of navigation\u201d operations to directly challenge Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea. Last October and again in January, US warships deliberately intruded within the 12-nautical-mile territorial limit surrounding Chinese-controlled islets.<\/p>\n
At his Pentagon press conference, Harris grossly inflated the \u201cthreat\u201d posed by Chinese activities in the South China Sea, declaring: \u201cI\u2019m of the opinion they\u2019re militarising the South China Sea. They have reclaimed almost 3,000 acres of military bases in the South China Sea.\u201d While China has engaged in extensive land reclamation on a handful of reefs in the Spratlys, to claim that it has \u201c3,000 acres of military bases\u201d is absurd.<\/p>\n
A week of congressional testimony was accompanied by what, in all likelihood, were planted articles in the American media highlighting two missile batteries and fighter aircraft on Woody Island, China\u2019s administrative centre in the Paracels, as well as the possible construction of radar installations in the Spratlys. Even these much-hyped stories fall well short of Harris\u2019s hyperbole.<\/p>\n
To counter China, Harris called for more frequent \u201cfreedom of navigation\u201d challenges to its territorial claims. He urged other \u201clike-minded\u201d nations to do the same. At present, the Australian government is under considerable pressure from Washington, as well as the opposition Labor Party and internally, to stage its own such operations.<\/p>\n
Harris also claimed that China would declare an Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the South China Sea, which he branded as \u201cdestabilising and provocative.\u201d In another calculated affront to Beijing, he added: \u201cWe would ignore it, just like we\u2019ve ignored the ADIZ that they\u2019ve put in place in the East China Sea.\u201d When China announced an ADIZ in the East China Sea in late 2013, the Pentagon sent two B-52 strategic bombers into the zone unannounced, deliberately risking a confrontation.<\/p>\n
Harris explicitly raised the necessity to prepare for war with China, in order to ensure that it does not undermine US military predominance in the Asia Pacific. \u201cIf China continues to arm all of the bases they have claimed in the South China Sea, they will change the operational landscape in the region. Short of war with the United States, China will exercise de facto control of the South China Sea,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Not surprisingly, Beijing reacted sharply to Harris\u2019s remarks. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei declared that the admiral intended \u201cto smear China\u2019s legitimate and reasonable actions in the South China Sea and [is] sowing discord,\u201d adding: \u201cHe is finding an excuse for US maritime hegemony and muscle-flexing on the sea.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Chinese regime is well aware that the Pentagon\u2019s AirSea Battle strategy for war on China is premised on US military dominance in the South China Sea that would enable a massive air and missile attack on the Chinese mainland, supplemented by a naval blockade. However, there is nothing progressive about Beijing\u2019s response. It involves, on the one hand, seeking an accommodation with Washington while, on the other, engaging in an arms race that only provides the US with a pretext for its massive build-up.<\/p>\n
Testifying at the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, Harris was quite open about his demands for a greater military arsenal in the Indo-Pacific. He cited the comments of Defence Secretary Carter: \u201cWe must have, and be seen to have, the ability to impose unacceptable costs on an advance aggressor that will either dissuade them from taking provocative action or make them deeply regret it if they do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris insisted that PACOM needed \u201cincreased lethality, specifically ships and aircraft equipped with faster, more lethal, and more survivable weapons systems. We must have longer-range offensive weapons on every platform. Finally we must have a networked force that provides greater options for action or response.\u201d<\/p>\n
The admiral specifically complained that the US navy was only providing him with about 62 percent of the attack submarine patrols that he needed. \u201cCritical munitions shortfalls are a top priority and concern,\u201d he said. \u201cMunitions are a major component of combat readiness. USPACOM forces need improvements in munitions technologies, production, and pre-positioning, but fiscal pressures places this at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pressing his case before the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, Harris made no bones about the purpose of his demands for greater weaponry and funds. \u201cI\u2019m comfortable where we are today, but today we\u2019re not at war, and I think [that is] an important point,\u201d he said. In other words, a war with China is precisely what is being prepared.<\/p>\n
Via WSWS<\/a>. This piece was reprinted by RINF Alternative News<\/a> with permission or license.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Peter Symonds Top US defence officials made a series of inflammatory statements this week about China\u2019s activities in the South China Sea, in order to justify the Pentagon\u2019s accelerating military build-up in the Indo-Pacific and to push for an expanded defence budget. The only conclusion that can be drawn is that advanced preparations are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[519],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-227432","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-newswire"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227432\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}