The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has been cautioned by state-owned military publications to be on “high alert” as a result of the United States’ (US) increased engagement and military cooperation with China’s regional rivals Japan and South Korea.
China’s military mouthpiece, the PLA Daily, warned against the rising frequency of military manoeuvres between the three countries in what China views to be its own backyard in one of its most overt and brazen warnings. It continues to warn that the stability of the region may be threatened by these drills.
The warning comes at a time when China’s main rival, the United States (US), has moved quickly to establish an effective deterrence against North Korea’s developing missile programme. Japan and South Korea, longtime enemies, have been patching up their differences to meet this challenge and expand their military cooperation.
Two researchers from the People’s Liberation Army Academy of Military Sciences wrote an essay for the PLA Daily claiming that the alliance the three countries are forming will raise conflict and tension in the region and have a significant impact on security.
It made reference to the countries’ ongoing military cooperation, including exercises, information exchange, joint weapons development, and their objectives for military growth.
This US-led military cooperation is aimed at controlling what the three states collectively perceive as a provocation by North Korea, despite the PLA’s perception that it poses a security threat.
On Friday, a naval practise in the East Sea’s international waters is attended by warships from the naval forces of South Korea, the United States, and Japan. Republic of Korea Navy, with permission
A naval exercise involving South Korean, American, and Japanese warships took place in the East Sea’s international waters. courtesy of the Navy of the Republic of Korea on Friday.
For instance, a joint statement from a trilateral meeting between the United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea read: “The US commitment to defend Japan and the ROK are ironclad and backed by the full range of capabilities, including nuclear, and reaffirmed the US commitment to strengthen extended deterrence with Japan and the ROK.”
Beyond conducting manoeuvres simulating an invasion of Taiwan, the Chinese PLA has increased military exercises with other Asian nations.
In addition, the Shandong aircraft carrier group of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy recently wrapped off its maiden deep sea operations in the West Pacific, cooperating with the Rocket Force, land-based aviation forces, and other surface combatants beyond the first island chain.
However, with tensions incrementally mounting in the wider Indo-Pacific region and especially in the East and South China Seas, the Chinese suspicion may be palpable. The latest PLA Daily warning came after the US, South Korea, and Japan conducted joint naval missile defence maneuvers targeting North Korean threats in April.
Early in April, combined naval exercises were held by the US, South Korea, and Japan off the Korean Peninsula.
In international waters close to Jeju Island in South Korea, the two-day anti-submarine and rescue drills, which included ships from the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier group and naval destroyers from South Korea, the US, and Japan, began.
The training, according to a contemporaneous government statement, was designed to improve the three countries’ capacity to confront challenges to maritime security posed by North Korea’s growing submarine-launched ballistic missiles and other weapons. Neither China nor the PLA were mentioned in these exercises.
Later same month, in an effort to counter North Korea’s expanding nuclear arsenal, the US, Japan, and South Korea participated in a coordinated missile defence exercise.
The exercises, which took place off the coast of South Korea, were aimed at improving methods for spotting, following, and exchanging information regarding approaching ballistic missiles from North Korea. Each nation sent an Aegis destroyer to the one-day naval exercise.
The PLA Academic additionally cautioned that the three nations were purportedly aiming to create a trilateral intelligence-sharing network based on the Five Eyes, which consists of Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States.
The publication warned that the alliance between the US, South Korea and Japan may eventually lead to an “Asia-Pacific version of NATO”.
India’s clout in China’s backyard
India travelled to China’s backyard, the South China Sea, earlier this month to undertake the first-ever India-ASEAN naval drills, which began on May 2 and finished on May 8.
Through the India-ASEAN Maritime Exercise (AIME-23), the ASEAN and Indian Navies hoped to foster greater camaraderie, trust, and confidence.
Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam make up the ASEAN bloc.
The first AIME was co-hosted by the Indian Navy and the Navy of the Republic of Singapore. The exercise’s harbour phase took place at Changi Naval Base from May 2 to May 4, while the exercise’s sea phase occurred in the South China Sea from May 7 to May 8.
Over 1,800 personnel from India and the ASEAN nations, along with nine ships and six planes, took part in the drill. The manoeuvres took place as ASEAN nations with overlapping territory claims with Beijing in the South China Sea routinely raised concerns about China’s growing assertiveness and aggression in the area.
China allegedly attempted to observe these exercises. On the final day of the exercises, boats from a Chinese maritime militia approached a region in the South China Sea where the fleets of India and ASEAN countries were conducting training, according to two Indian sources who spoke to the media.
According to officials with knowledge of the situation, the Chinese surveillance ship Xiang Yang Hong 10 and at least eight maritime militia ships—a front for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)—moved in that area.
According to experts, it was unclear from the Chinese vessels’ movements whether they were observing the naval exercise or invading Vietnam’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), where China is engaged in a maritime conflict.
According to a local independent expert, China looked to be using the militia to frighten and obstruct the naval exercise.
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May 10, 2023 at 03:44PM
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