PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii —The United States government, under the Biden administration, views China as the only nation with will and military muscle to reshape the world order.
“We still face real challenges in the region. Unfortunately, the People’s Republic of China continues to engage in increasingly coercive behavior,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III said in his remarks during the Indo-Pacific Change of Command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on Saturday morning (Manila time).
“And we can see that across the Taiwan Strait, in the East and South China Seas, among the Pacific Island countries, along the Line of Actual Control of India and more,” Austin said.
The US Defense chief went on to say that China “is the only county with both the will —and increasingly, the capacity— to dominate the Indo-Pacific and to reshape the global order to suit its autocratic vision.”
“That’s why the PRC remains the Department’s pacing challenge,” he said.
China is claiming almost the entirety of the South China Sea —a conduit for more than $3 trillion in annual ship commerce.
Beijing’s territorial claims overlap with those of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei.
A portion of the South China Sea within the Philippine exclusive economic zone has been renamed the West Philippine Sea.
In 2016, Manila scored a victory in a maritime territorial dispute it lodged against Beijing at the International Arbitral Tribunal. The country continues to assert its legally binding decision, but China rejects the ruling.
Meanwhile, in his remarks, Austin said that “this year’s Balikatan underway right now.”
Balikatan is the yearly series of military exercises between US and Philippine military forces.
The US Defense chief also noted that America has expanded its access to four new sites under its Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement with the Philippines.
“Indo-Pacom is working with our regional allies and partners like never before,” Austin said. —VAL, GMA Integrated News
