The Asia-Pacific region is a geopolitical place of economic and military rivalries between the world’s superpowers. There are approximately 60 participating countries in the Asia-Pacific region; these countries are part of one of the three major parts of the Asia-Pacific Ocean, some of the two parts and some of the three parts of the Asia-Pacific Ocean, which they call the key members of the Asia-Pacific region . There are three types of participants in the Asia-Pacific region; one is APEC or the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.
The other is the APCS Asia-Pacific City Summit, and the third is the ESCAP Economic and Social Commission for Asia-Pacific. APEC comprises 21 economic partners, all of which pose a major threat to security in the Pacific. The top three countries that pose risks are the global economic rivalry between China and the United States and the international military rivalry between the United States and Russia. . After World War II, the eyes of the world’s superpowers turned to the Pacific, and at that time there were two major powers in the Pacific, the Russian-led former Soviet Union and the United States.
Then, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, a new power emerged in the Pacific called China. However, with the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia and the United States reduced their naval forces in the Pacific, but the United States has continued to focus on the Pacific ever since. Conversely, as China began to increase and strengthen its naval forces, the United States began to intervene militarily again, using the security situation in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea to prevent Chinese naval influence in The pacific. The concerns of the US-led Western alliance have been heightened as China has begun patrolling the Pacific Ocean in large numbers, and the first Sino-Russian joint security patrol in the Western Pacific in October 2021 raised serious concerns from the United States. western alliance. The increase in Chinese navy security patrols in the Miyako, Bashi and Unagoni straits and the increase in the number of warships ferrying fighter jets to the Pacific through the Miyako Strait have alarmed the Western world.
In the Asia-Pacific region, China is currently more vulnerable to the United States than Russia; Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, China has ordered its security agencies to be on high alert and has repeatedly sent warships to the strait near Taiwan. China is the world’s largest naval power since 2020, according to the US Department of Defense, at that time the total number of Chinese warships reached 355, and at that time the United States had only 293 warships.
Today, however, the Chinese navy has over 500 ships and around 330,000 active navy personnel. Moreover, with the weakening of the US political and military presence in Southeast Asia and the Middle East since August 15, Sino-Russian relations have entered a new stage of development. China is currently supporting Russia in forming the former Soviet Union and preventing Russian allies from joining NATO. In return, Russia is fully committed to the implementation of the China 1 Road 1 Belt or BRI project and the delivery of Chinese naval bases to the port of Gwadar.
Additionally, the United States, with assistance from the G-7, NATO, and the European Union, is taking concrete steps to prevent China and Russia from pursuing common goals in the Pacific and at Gwadar. .
What are the security challenges in the Asia-Pacific region and from which areas?
The Asia-Pacific region is the best place to obtain fresh water, reduce malnutrition and reduce poverty in Asian countries, and the security of Asia-Pacific is not only beneficial for Asia but also for a number of African countries.
Nevertheless, security is the most important issue in the Asia-Pacific region, which currently poses a major challenge for participants from Asia-Pacific. China’s emergence as a regional power poses a serious challenge to the Asia-Pacific order, especially for the United States. Because the United States opposes security in the Asia-Pacific region and does not want to end regional poverty, war zones in the Asia-Pacific region have been identified.
The Asia-Pacific region is currently in a power struggle, the main members being China, Russia and the United States, and the centers and causes of the conflict are North and South Korea, the security policy of the Japan against China, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Afghanistan, among others.
There are many pro-Western countries in the world, which make a lot of money every year from the sale of weapons, and there must be a known market for the sale of weapons that has a market for them. Decades of civil war in Asia and Africa have fueled the US-Israeli arms market, and these weapons are used by state, non-state and quasi-state actors in civil war in Libya, Yemen, Syria, Mali , Iraq, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Congo DRC, and benefits the Israeli and US governments. Moreover, if security and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region improves, jobs are created in the region, hunger is eradicated, war will end, and if war stops, small arms companies and heavy will be closed. Thus, the Asia-Pacific region is currently at the center of serious security challenges.
Accelerating the process of mass destruction in the region or Iran’s WMD and uranium enrichment process, rising security threats and violence on the Korean Peninsula, the ongoing dispute between India and Pakistan on the issue of Pakistan-administered Kashmir in the region. The rise of international pro-Western Islamist militias in the region against the implementation of Chinese CPEC and BRI projects, Indo-Chinese competition in the global trade market. Recent political changes in Afghanistan and the rise of security threats in the region with the return of the Taliban to power for the second time. The violence caused by religious extremist groups in Uzbekistan, ethnic and religious conflicts in Myanmar, conflicts in the Middle East and growing poverty in Africa, the development of ISIS as an armed Islamic sympathizer throughout Asia constitute a major security challenge in the Asia-Pacific Region. Moreover, to meet all these challenges, Russia and China want to eliminate US military bases and naval forces throughout the Asia-Pacific region, and the Asia-Pacific region must meet the NPT commitments on nuclear disarmament by all participants.
Nevertheless, efforts are being made by both sides, the Western community led by the United States and NATO, and the Eastern Alliance led by Russia, with Chinese economic support, to seize power in the Asia- Peaceful. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China pledged to block Taiwan’s formal declaration of independence. Furthermore, China has claimed sovereignty over the Ivy and Senkaku Islands together with Japan, and Russia is fully cooperating with China in this regard.
What are the efforts of the United States to expand its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region and prevent China’s influence?
In order to expand the US military and political presence in the Asia-Pacific region, the United States seeks to find allies in the region that support and host US military bases in addition to the US political presence.
While the United States and Japan signed a joint peace and security agreement in San Francisco in 1951 after World War II, this agreement is essentially the cornerstone of American military intervention in Asia-Pacific. Then, on January 19, 1960, in Washington DC, another bilateral security agreement was signed between the United States and Japan, the main purpose of the agreement was to formally authorize American military bases on Japanese soil. , and the two countries have pledged to defend each other. Through these agreements, the United States has gradually deployed its naval forces in the Asia-Pacific region, and the influence of American naval forces in the Pacific has become a headache for China and Russia.
There are 56,000 active duty U.S. troops and other military personnel in Japan today, according to the Pentagon. Additionally, approximately 36,000 US military personnel are stationed in South Korea and approximately 35,221 active US military personnel are stationed in Germany. In addition to the increase in the number of these troops since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, new and advanced light and heavy weapons have been sent to them by NATO. Additionally, the United States has about 120 military bases in Asian countries. Nevertheless, according to intelligence, the United States has more than 35 secret military installations in the following countries: Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Qatar, Djibouti, Kuwait and Nigeria. All of these secret facilities operate as a joint unit with US Special Operations Forces, or (SOF). Additionally, the functions of these secret facilities are to train non-state Islamist militias in the Asia-Pacific region, such as ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Ansarullah, ETIM and others. Other activities of these secret military installations include the illegal exploitation of oil reserves in the Middle East and the smuggling of precious stones and rare earth minerals, drug trafficking, the conduct of unofficial and unregistered operations , the formation of religious and extremist groups in the region against China and Russia. . Moreover, the Asia-Pacific region is currently facing security challenges from two points: the North’s attraction to South Korea and the Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
In addition, new plans are being implemented by the United States to contain China and Russia in the following areas, such as training Uyghur, ISIS and Hiat Tahrir-Al-Sham fighters from the base of Al-Tanf in Syria. The rise and deployment of pro-Western international Islamist militia groups in northern Afghanistan through a new political vacuum, the threat of the Waziristan Taliban under the TTP in Pakistan and the Baloch fighters under the of the BLA. The formation of extremist groups in Pakistan administered Kashmir to control China to prevent CPEC, political unrest in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and through the clandestine intervention of the United States. The United States will use these factors to destabilize the Asia-Pacific region, because Japan may not make sacrifices for the United States this time.
Because the Japanese government wants to defeat China economically and does not want to challenge China for the benefit of the United States. Nevertheless, the United States will not allow Japan to withdraw from the war and will use Japan for its own purposes against Russia and China. This is why the former Prime Minister of Japan was recently assassinated in Japan, and his policy was strongly opposed to China and Russia. Using this political assassination, the US once again forced Japan to host and support US naval and ground forces against China and Russia. This time, the United States will not only use military force to contain China’s influence in the region, but also expand its political presence in the region.
Therefore, on July 12 this year, the United States announced the opening of American embassies in Tonga and Kiribati, to prevent Chinese influence in Asia/Indo-Pacific.
