"Border Encircling" How is the United States trying to besiege China through its neighbors?

In addition to the Okus alliance with Australia, the United States is seeking to strengthen its strategic partnership with Japan and South Korea, and to increase its military presence in the Philippines and its diplomatic presence in the Solomon Islands, in anticipation of any possible confrontation with China in the region.

As it tries to reassert its influence in the region amid a broader effort to counter possible Chinese military involvement in Taiwan, an island that Beijing claims as part of its territory, the United States aims to increase ties with its strategic allies in Southeast Asia and strengthen ties that have soured in recent years.

While the United States seeks to strengthen its strategic partnership with Japan and South Korea, in anticipation of any possible confrontation with China in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, it is working at the same time to increase its military presence in the Philippines, reach four other locations and enhance the role of the Southeast Asian country as a major strategic partner for Washington. In the South China Sea in the event of a conflict with Beijing over Taiwan.

Among the five allies of the United States in Asia, Japan and the Philippines are of particular importance due to their geographical proximity to Taiwan, as the island of "Itbayat" in the far north of the Philippines is only 93 miles away, according to the New York Times .

The return of the US Army to the Philippines

The Philippines is the oldest ally of the United States in Asia. Washington is working to strengthen its presence in this country after the deterioration of relations during the six-year term of former President Rodrigo Duterte, which came to an end last year.

Last Thursday, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin announced a deal to give the US military access to four more bases in the Philippines, bringing the total number to nine. This makes the Philippines a major strategic partner for Washington in the region in the event of a conflict with China over Taiwan.

The agreement allows Washington to deploy military equipment and build facilities in nine locations across the Philippines, marking the first time in 30 years that the United States will have such a large military presence in the country.

On the other hand, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning on Thursday accused the United States of declaring a threat to regional peace and stability. "Out of self-interest, the United States continues to strengthen its military deployment in the region with a zero-sum mentality, which exacerbates tension in the region and endangers regional peace and stability," she said. "The countries in the region must remain vigilant against this and avoid coercion and use by the United States," she added.

US-Chinese conflict over Indonesia

Beijing still has the edge in a struggle to court Indonesia, a resource-rich country of nearly 300 million people that is the prize in the strategic battle between the United States and China for influence in Asia.

Indonesia lies across the southern edge of the South China Sea. Thanks to its strategic location, with some 17,000 islands spanning thousands of miles of vital sea lanes, its presence is a defensive necessity as both sides prepare for a potential conflict over Taiwan.

According to the New York Times , although Indonesia showed a strong line against China in the sixties of the last century, when armed conflicts erupted between gangs consisting of military, paramilitary and religious groups against the Indonesian Communist Party and claimed the lives of at least half a million people, the convergence of interests Politics between the two countries' leaders, as well as China's billion-dollar investments in Indonesia's infrastructure, have contributed to partly tipping Beijing's favor at the expense of Washington.

The return of American interest in the Pacific

After the Solomon Islands signed a secret security agreement with China in 2022, and despite an absence of more than 30 years, the United States opened an embassy in the Pacific country of the Solomon Islands, as US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced in early February, in He sought to strengthen diplomatic relations in the Pacific in the framework of confronting China, according to the British Guardian newspaper .

Last September, US President Joe Biden hosted the leaders of the Pacific islands at the Washington summit, in which he pledged to help stave off Chinese "economic coercion", and promised to work more diligently with allies and partners to meet the needs of the islanders.

In a related context, Britain, the United States of America and Australia announced in September 2021 the establishment of a military alliance called Okus to "protect its interests" in the Pacific and Indian oceans against Chinese influence there. This aroused many resentments, led by China, which saw in it the beginning of a new "Cold War".