INDO PACIFIC SECURITY PERSPECTIVES : UNITED STATES FINALLY ADOPTS HARDENED POLICY STANCES ON CHINA'S DEFIANCE OF GLOBAL NORMS

Saturday, July 25, 2020

UNITED STATES FINALLY ADOPTS HARDENED POLICY STANCES ON CHINA'S DEFIANCE OF GLOBAL NORMS

Heartening for Indo Pacific Security environment is that this month the United States has finally though belatedly adopted hardened policy stances on China's continued defiance of global norms of international behaviour expected from a Nation that aspires to emerge as a Superpower.

China in the last two months has in a repetition of its past aggressive brinkmanship visible significantly from 2013 onwards has embarked on a resurgence of its aggressive military behaviour extending across the entire Indo Pacific expanse stretching from Japan (East China Sea) through South China Sea (Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia) and intensifying its military confrontation with India more noted in Eastern Ladakh bordering China Occupied Tibet.

This latest Chines resurgence when viewed against the backdrop of the China-generated Wuhan Virus19 Pandemic sweeping across Major Power democracies but not touching China on the same scale raises serious questions of Chin's intentions.

China either is trying to divert global attention from its criminal culpability in terms of accountability for Wuhan Virus19 outbreak from China's Wuhan Virological Laboratories engaged reputedly in experiment for Biological Warfare weapons or China believes that with the United States and Major Powers weighed down with fighting the Wuhan Virus Pandemic would be strategically distracted from taking strong counter-responses to China's wild aggressive rampage across the entire Indo Pacific region.

China seems to be impelled by both of the above two determinants stated above whereas the latter may now be more predominantly weighing in these last two months.

Tangentially, China much against global opinion has passed new Security Legislation on Hong Kong which stood plagued with widespread riots by its population against China's attempts to apply China's sedition laws on Hong Kong. China can now be expected to brutally suppress all struggles for democracy in Hong Kong by its residents who at least culturally are quite distinct from Mainland Chinese.

China in these two months has visibly and starkly demonstrated that in the pursuit of Chines President Xi Jinping's 'Great China Dream' it is not ready to submit to any international conventions, agreements or be stopped by the United States or any other Major Powers aligning with the United States .

The United States long permissive of China's strategic delinquencies for both geopolitical and strategic reasons seems to have been pushed into a corner by China.

As of this month, it is clearly becoming visible that United States is now going to seriously "Push Back" on China's unrestrained relentless rampage across Indo Pacific Region. The United States seems to have weighed the costs of a 'Reset' of its China Policy and is now engaged in initiating various political, economic and military measures to impose costs on China where it hurts most.

The United States seems also to be encouraged by the widespread backlash against China in all Indo Pacific and European capitals on both counts of China's irresponsible and provocative actions of firstly not putting the international community on notice of Pandemic Outbreak from Wuhan and also in its cover indulging in a resurgence of its military aggression and brinkmanship all over Indo Pacific..

China has by its such misdemeanours has generated a "SEVERE STRATEGIC DISTRUST" in world capitals against itself..

The United States taking advantage of widespread global revulsion on China's on-going military aggression has hardened its policy stances against China. United States has withdrawn Special Status accorded to Hong Kong, imposing sanctions on Chinese officials connected with Hong Kong suppression, intensified its FONOPS in South China Sea, asserted forcefully that China is in illegal control and occupation of Philippines and Vietnam Islands in South Chia Sea and severely castigated China for intensifying military confrontation with India in Eastern Ladakh.

In coming weeks and months we can expect the United States to further tighten the screws on China in a bid to checkmate its aggressive transgression against Indo Pacific Region nations.

China seems unlikely to submit to United States pressures and therein lies the inevitability of the long-predicted military showdown of the United States with an Expansionist China.

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Dr Subhash Kapila—Academic & Professional Profile

Dr Subhash Kapila is a Graduate of the Royal British Army Staff College.UK.: has a Masters in Defence Science from Madras University with his thesis on ‘India’s Foreign Policy in Far East Asia’ and a Doctorate from Allahabad University with his thesis in 1994 on ‘Asia Pacific Security-2000 AD Perspectives’.

Dr Subhash Kapila combines a rich and varied professional experience of Indian Army (Brigadier) in criteria appointments on Command, Staff and Instructional. Indian Army service encompassed long tenures on India’s borders with China and Pakistan.

Dr Subhash Kaila’s professional exposures also include diplomatic assignments in United States, Japan, South Korea and also official tenures in UK and Bhutan. These years of diplomatic and official assignments afforded deep insights on Asia Pacific security challenges and China-watching from different perches.

Dr Subhash Kapila has authored two books--- ‘China-India Military Confrontation:21^st Century Perspectives’ (2015) and an earlier one on India’s Defence Policies & Strategic Thought-A Comparative Analysis’ (2004)

Dr Subhash Kapila has authored over nearly 2000 Papers on Geopolitical, Foreign Policy and Strategic topics of Major Powers like USA, China, Japan and regional issues of South Asia, South East Asia and the Middle East.

Dr Subhash Kapila has presented Papers at international forums in Russia, Japan, Turkey and Vietnam and National and University Seminars in India.

Invited for TV/Radio discussions by CNN, BBC, Pakistan Geo TV and multiple Indian Channels.

INDO PACIFIC REGION—GEOPOLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE

“Indo Pacific Region encompassing the vast geographical expanse from West Coast of the United States to the Eastern Littoral of Africa on the Indian Ocean and Australia in South Pacific has emerged in recent years as a fulcrum of global security and stability.

Competing security narratives led by the United States and a reactive hardly credible narrative by China challenges foreign policy and security policies directions of Major Powers in the Indo Pacific comprising United States. India, Japan and Australia.

Needless to highlight as so many academic treatises have already done so that Indo Pacific Security Template as a strategic construct and narrative emerged so as a narrative in the last decade generated by fears of China’s not so benign intentions manifested from Himalayan Heights of China Occupied Tibet borders with India to the Western Pacific seas, and more pointedly to the South China Sea where China has indulged in military aggression ad coercive brinkmanship to establish “Full Spectrum Dominance” endangering Indo Pacific Security as a whole.”------------Dr Subhash Kaila’s earlier writings.

“The Indo Pacific has assumed tectonic significance for a wide range of nations affirming their agency in an uncertain world. Far from being an obscure account of of words and maps, the narratives of Indo Pacific nations hands a great dilemma of the 21^st Century: how can other countries respond to a strong and coercive China without resorting to capitulation or conflict.” –Professor Rory Metcalf, Australian National University.

“In this century, the Asia Pacific and the Indian Ocean Rim which some refer as the Indo Pacific will become the world’s centre of gravity.”---Australian Defence Minister