Biden White House Releases Indo-Pacific Strategy Document for Encirclement of China
Feb. 13, 2022 (EIRNS)—The White House released a 19-page document Feb. 11, entitled “Indo-Pacific Strategy of the United States,” which asserts in its first sentence of its introduction that “The United States is an Indo-Pacific power,” and due to its presence and economic power—especially in terms of military bases and personnel—its influence will only grow.
It cites that under President Biden, the U.S. “is determined to strengthen our long term position in and commitment to the Indo-Pacific” and will focus on every corner of the region, and implies that it is expected that its European allies will also assist the U.S., since they too are increasing their economic input into the area.
The document then comes quickly to the point,
“This intensifying American focus is due in part to the fact that the Indo-Pacific faces mounting challenges, particularly from the P.R.C. [People’s Republic of China]. The P.R.C. is combining its economic, diplomatic, military, and technological might as it pursues a sphere of influence in the Indo-Pacific and seeks to become the world’s most influential power. The P.R.C.’s coercion and aggression spans the globe, but it is most acute in the Indo-Pacific. From the economic coercion of Australia to the conflict along the Line of Actual Control with India to the growing pressure on Taiwan and bullying of neighbors in the East and South China Seas, our allies and partners in the region bear much of the cost of the P.R.C.’s harmful behavior. In the process, the P.R.C. is also undermining human rights and international law, including freedom of navigation, as well as other principles that have brought stability and prosperity to the Indo-Pacific.”
It continues in this vein,
“Our collective efforts over the next decade will determine whether the P.R.C. succeeds in transforming the rules and norms that have benefited the Indo-Pacific and the world. For our part, the United States is investing in the foundations of our strength at home, aligning our approach with those of our allies and partners abroad, and competing with the P.R.C. to defend the interests and vision for the future that we share with others. We will strengthen the international system, keep it grounded in shared values, and update it to meet 21st-century challenges. Our objective is not to change the P.R.C. but to shape the strategic environment in which it operates, building a balance of influence in the world that is maximally favorable to the United States, our allies and partners, and the interests and values we share ... we recognize the strategic value of an increasing regional role for the European Union.”
It goes on to cite other alleged challenges in the region, such as climate change, the COVID pandemic, and the nuclear weapon programs of North Korea.
The document outlines the strategy of the U.S. for the next one to two years:
• “Our strategy, therefore, begins with building resilience within countries, as we have done in the United States. In the region, that includes our efforts to support open societies and to ensure Indo-Pacific governments can make independent political choices free from coercion; we will do so through investments in democratic institutions, a free press, and a vibrant civil society. The United States will bolster freedom of information and expression and combat foreign interference by supporting investigative journalism, promoting media literacy and pluralistic and independent media, and increasing collaboration to address threats from information manipulation.”
• “[W]e will build support for rules-based approaches to the maritime domain, including in the South China Sea and the East China Sea.”
• “A free and open Indo-Pacific can only be achieved if we build collective capacity for a new age; common action is now a strategic necessity.... [W]e will work in flexible groupings that pool our collective strength to face up to the defining issues of our time, particularly through the Quad.”
The document gives lip-service to supporting “democratic institutions,” building up of reliable and secure internet connections; boosting STEM programs in the schools, addressing the COVID pandemic, and enhancing U.S. military capabilities in the region to include all environments—space, cyber-space, command and control operations, and asymmetrical operations. This includes delivery of nuclear-powered submarines to the Royal Australian Navy (through the AUKUS) as soon as possible.
It makes crystal-clear that the region will be targeted for Green policies:
“The United States will work with partners to develop 2030 and 2050 targets, strategies, plans, and policies consistent with limiting the global temperature increase to 1.5° Celsius, and will seek to serve as the preferred partner as the region transitions to a net-zero future. Through initiatives like Clean EDGE, we will incentivize clean-energy technology investment and deployment, seek to drive energy-sector decarbonization, and foster climate-aligned infrastructure investment. The United States will work with partners to reduce their vulnerability to the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation and will support critical-infrastructure resilience and address energy security. We will also work to safeguard the health and sustainable use of the region’s vast oceans....”
Then, it spells out how the U.S. will “deal with China”: “We will also work with partners inside and outside of the region to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, including by supporting Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities, to ensure an environment in which Taiwan’s future is determined peacefully in accordance with the wishes and best interests of Taiwan’s people. As we do so, our approach remains consistent with our One China policy and our longstanding commitments under the Taiwan Relations Act, the Three Joint Communiqués, and the Six Assurances.”
All in all, it is a bone-chilling strategy that can only result in increased tensions, and a step closer to world war, as also detailed in other documents and White House briefings, in the EIR Daily Alert for Feb. 12 (“Biden Orders Use of $7 Billion of Afghanistan Central Bank Funds, But None To Rebuild Afghan Rubble Field”).
