By Chen Hong
Deputy foreign ministers from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and the ROK held an online consultation on December 2. This is another foreign affairs meeting held by the four countries after their leaders were invited to attend the NATO summit in Madrid for the first time in this June. The focus of the consultation is how to cooperate in the Indo-Pacific region and cooperate with Europe and the US. As we all know, Japan, the ROK, Australia and New Zealand are considered to be the four countries that NATO most wants to win over in its expansion process in the Asia-Pacific region.
The US has vigorously promoted the so-called “Indo-Pacific Strategy” aimed at containing China in recent years. In this context, NATO intends to continue to extend its strategic center eastward in accordance with the US roadmap and begins to spread its tentacles to the Asia-Pacific region. NATO directly or indirectly points the medium and long-term goals to China in its2022 Strategic Concept. In fact, Washington has already carried out a division of labor and a step-by-step layout in the Asia-Pacific.
First, both Australia and New Zealand belong to the Five Eyes Alliance. In the context of the Indo-Pacific Strategy, the Five Eyes Alliance, which is a loose organization with an initial function of intelligence sharing between Anglo-Saxon countries, has transformed into a security framework with a wider scope and closer cooperation to serve the military purpose of the US's Indo-Pacific Strategy.
Second, both Japan and Australia are members of the US-Japan-India-Australia Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) mechanism. This mechanism is considered the hub of the Indo-Pacific Strategy as it connects the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean and forms an "encirclement" of China.
Third, the AUKUS security partnership established by the US, the UK and Australia in September 2021 has laid the foundation for strengthening military cooperation among the three countries, especially creating conditions for Australia to have nuclear military capabilities.
Against the above background, NATO's pursuit of strengthening cooperative relations with Japan, the ROK, Australia and New Zealand is not just a simple superposition of tactics. Washington is not satisfied with forming a "mini-NATO" in Asia through mechanisms such as the US-Japan-India-Australia Quadrilateral Dialogue. The US intends to further project NATO's political influence and military deterrence directly to China's neighboring countries and regions.
According to Japanese media reports, the consultation particularly emphasized the so-called "China's advancement of maritime activities" and "confirmed the policy of deepening relations with ASEAN and Pacific Island countries." This obviously indicates the new empowerment of Japan, the ROK, Australia and New Zealand by the US in NATO's layout in the Asia-Pacific region. The task assigned to these four Asia-Pacific countries is to exert their respective influence and win over Southeast Asian and Pacific Island countries. At the same time, the four countries would work with the US to create trouble and demonize and stigmatize China's reasonable and legal maritime activities, and then they can help build an exclusive new regional order centered on US hegemony.
In fact, fabricating the "China Threat Theory", creating and exaggerating regional tensions, and undermining the peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region not only harm the interests of China and other countries in the region, but also harm the interests of Japan, the ROK, Australia and New Zealand. Introducing extraterritorial military forces into the Asia-Pacific region can only add to their own insecurity.
For Japan, the ROK, Australia and New Zealand, the views expressed recently by former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating may serve as a reference. In a speech this October, Keating pointed out that it is unwise for Australia to be manipulated by the US. He believed that the QUAD is a strategic nonsense, and it would be a tragedy for Australia to continue to promote AUKUS. Similarly, taking a chestnut out of the fire for the strategic purpose of the US and acting as a pawn in NATO's strategy of containing China will only bring tragedy to the long-term interests of any country and the well-being of its people.
(The author is the Director of the Australian Studies Center, East China Normal University)
Editor's note: Originally published on huanqiu.com, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
