China has accused the United States of trying to establish an Asia-Pacific equivalent of NATO as part of its Indo-Pacific strategy. Lieutenant General Jing Jianfeng, the deputy chief of staff of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission, criticized Washington's motives, labeling them as self-serving and destined to fail.
His remarks came after US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's address at the annual defense summit, Shangri La Dialogue, in Singapore. Austin emphasized strengthening alliances and partnerships all over the region in the US's commitment to its Indo-Pacific strategy.
However, Jing warned regional countries not to line up with the US strategy, saying that would amount to tying them to the "US war chariot" and may force them to pay the price for US interests. He dismissed Austin's rhetoric as void, serving nothing more than the selfish geopolitical interest of the United States.
Jing went on to say that the Indo-Pacific strategy is a thinly veiled attempt at building its hegemony over the region, similar to building an Asia-Pacific version of NATO. He has criticized the strategy as creating division and confrontation rather than cooperation and stability.
The real purpose is to merge the small circle into the large circle of the Asia-Pacific version of NATO so as to maintain the hegemony led by the US," he said.
The Indo-Pacific is a broad geographical area extending from the Indian Ocean up to the western and central Pacific Ocean, including the South China Sea. It has been a point of competition between major geopolitical powers.
While the US positions its Indo-Pacific strategy as a vision of a free, open, and prosperous region, China sees in it a challenge to its own interests.
Tensions in the South China Sea, where China asserts expansive territorial claims disputed by its neighbors, including Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, and Vietnam, have raised apprehensions among regional powers and global players.
In that perspective, the US and its partners reiterate the need for a free and open Indo-Pacific, in the face of the rise of China.
However, these efforts are viewed by China as part of the attempts to contain its rise and reinforce the dominance of the US across the region.
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