For several months, China has been showing growing aggressiveness towards Taiwan, which is disrupting the peace and stability of the region.
Yesterday, the Chinese military concluded large-scale military exercises deploying warplanes and warships around Taiwan.
Beijing wants to reclaim the island – a thriving and innovative democracy – which refuses to be integrated into China. Starting today, Taiwan is in turn organizing military exercises to showcase its defense capabilities.
Japan is also on the alert. Japanese and US defense ministers are meeting this week, and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida will meet with President Biden in Washington on Friday.
He will be in Ottawa tomorrow. Tokyo is doubling its military budget and carrying out a major overhaul of its armed forces. A new security strategy that moves away from post-WWII Japanese pacifism.
The US and Japanese armed forces are integrating their command structure and engaging in combined operations to confront China in a possible conflict, according to the commander of the Marine Corps in Japan.
Aid to Taiwan like that to Ukraine
Lieutenant General James Bierman said in an interview with Financial Times from London that Washington is preparing for a war in Asia as it did, as early as 2014, for a conflict in Ukraine.
Following Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the Russian-speaking Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, the Pentagon began preparations to confront Russia: training Ukrainian military personnel, prepositioning equipment for support future operations, Russian attack simulations and target identification.
In Australia, the United States is also increasing its land, sea and air forces, including B-52 strategic bombers.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Washington will deploy more Marine Corps personnel there.
As with the Pacific War once morest Japan, the Marines will be at the center of military operations once morest China.
The Pentagon has embarked on a program to make their amphibious units capable of moving quickly and safely around the western Pacific islands while within range of Chinese missiles.
The United States also wants to preposition weapons and equipment in the Philippines.
Canada is also involved
Rising tensions in the Western Pacific and the South China Sea are already involving Canada.
A little over a month ago, Ottawa accused the Chinese air force of making numerous “dangerous interceptions” of a Canadian Forces reconnaissance aircraft.
The CP-140 Aurora was flying surveillance missions from Japan in support of UN sanctions once morest China’s ally North Korea.
Growing tensions with Russia and China and a desire to stay in Washington’s good graces in these uncertain times also partly explain the Trudeau government’s decision to acquire F-35 multirole jets.
