Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is meeting Tuesday with his Japanese, Indian, and Australian counterparts in Tokyo – the “Quad” countries currently closely cooperating in Asia to counter China. The Trump administration recently raised the idea of expanding the loose coalition into the core of a new “Asian NATO” to better face the increasingly belligerent Chinese dragon.
According to the Washington Times, Deputy Secretary of State Stephen E. Biegun suggested at a U.S.-Indian strategic dialogue on August 31 that the Quad could be the beginning of a NATO-style alliance in Asia.
“It’s something that I think in the second term of the Trump administration or, were the president not to win, the first term of the next president, it could be something that would be very much worthwhile to be explored,” said Biegun.
During the Cold War with the Soviet Union the U.S. helped create numerous alliances to encircle and contain the USSR. One of those was the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Europe – also known as the Transatlantic Alliance – which continues successfully to this day.
Another was the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) created to block further communist gains in Southeast Asia.
SEATO would be closer parallel to any current efforts against China, but it is generally considered a failure because internal conflicts hampered the use of any SEATO military forces before it was disbanded in 1977. NATO is therefore the better role model.
The Quad nations, under U.S. leadership, have recently increased joint military exercises in the face of Chinese hostility and expansion, but some argue that talk of an Asian NATO is still premature. All of the Asian members of the Quad have historically been wary of confronting China too directly out of fear of economic and other reprisals.
Jeff Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple University Japan, notes, according to the Washington Times, that, “A shared threat perception of China does not mean shared views on what to do and if it’s possible to build the Quad into something along the lines of NATO.”
However, as the Times reports, “The Trump administration is keen to seize upon regional unease over China’s construction of military bases on artificial islands in disputed areas of the South China Sea, as well as Beijing’s growing use of ‘wolf warrior’ diplomacy and its crackdown on domestic dissent in places such as Hong Kong and Xinjiang.”
And the administration’s efforts may be paying off. Australia has taken a particularly strong position against China and is working very closely with America. Japan has significantly boosted defense spending and military cooperation with the United States, and India – generally skeptical of military alliances, has done the same.
Japan’s hosting the ministerial meeting today, just days after the new Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga, took office, “is seen as a sign that Tokyo may be warming to the idea,” noted the Times.
New Delhi’s thinking may also be changing due to the bloody border clashes with Chinese military in the Himalayas.
Daniel S. Markey, a former State Department official now at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, said to the Times that the border conflict and crackdown on Hong Kong “may be shifting attitudes in India” and that “makes the American job of convincing Indians that China is a threat easier.”
Perhaps a much-needed Asian NATO is not as premature as some believe.
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Good Idea to form such and alliance. Try to enlist other “CBI” countries/former areas. Use heavy naval presence AND USMC presence. Indeed, with such additional support as other partners will afford, keep a ready force in the area. The concept of the old “China Marines”. Combine this with intense diplomatic economic effort/activity to enlist alliance with Mrymyar (Burma).
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Does anyone remember the organization called the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO)?
Resurrect SEATO correctly and contain the expansionist/aggressive Red Chinese. Kick them out of the South China Sea except those areas normally accepted by International Law for territorial waters. Force China to abide by its aggreements concerning Hong Kong and Taiwan.
And for the nervous Nellies, YES, it does pose risks. That includes the risk of armed conflict. But the alternative is to surrender to the COMMUNIST Chinese territoriality, financially, and politically.
cv
in the past several countries have tried to rule the earth all have failed , united we stand is the best idea
Revive SEATO or rename PATO: Pacific Asian Treaty Organz
The new ASEAN NATO should be called FATA or Freedom Asia Treaty Alliance
I AM VERY PLEASED THAT PRES. TRUMP IS PITCHING IN TO HELP ASIA AND ALL OTHER NATIONS THREATENED BY COMMUNIST CHINA. “TO BE A DOORMAT, YOU HAVE TO LIE DOWN.” PRES. TRUMP IS NOT GOING TO BE ANYONE’S DOORMAT, AND HE’S NOT GOING TO STAND IDLY BY WITHOUT SHOWING OTHERS HOW NOT TO BE ONE IN THEIR OWN DEFENSE.