GOOD MORNING FROM LONDON
#1 US LAUNCHES MILITARY REPAIR HUBS IN INDO-PACIFIC.
NIKKEI ASIA
#2 US/UK UNIFIED APPROACH TO CHINA.
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
#3 SOUTH-EAST ASIA COUNTRIES VISIT RUSSIA.
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
#4 THE US TYPHON MISSILE SYSTEM THREATENS CHINA.
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
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#1 PENTAGON EXPANDS REPAIR HUBS IN INDO-PACIFIC
NIKKEI ASIA
“The U.S. Department of Defense will launch military repair hubs in the Indo-Pacific countries of Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore and the Philippines, sources told Nikkei Asia, as it envisions a global network of repair hubs for key warfighting platforms.
The Pentagon’s new Regional Sustainment Framework (RSF) envisions utilizing existing industrial capabilities of its allies and partners so that it can conduct maintenance, repairs and overhauls of its ships, planes and vehicles closer to their area of operation instead of bringing them back to the continental U.S.
The plan is to launch pilot programs in five Indo-Pacific countries this year, then expand it to NATO partners in the European Command’s area in 2025 and to Latin American partners under the Southern Command in 2026.
The program stems from an understanding that the U.S. alone cannot compete with China’s industrial prowess. In July 2023, the defense news website The War Zone published a U.S. Navy briefing slide that showed China, the world’s largest shipbuilding nation, having about 232 times the shipbuilding capacity of the U.S.”
GRAHAM PERRY COMMENTS;
The US is to launch military repair hubs in Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore and the Philippines, in a boost to its key warfighting platforms. This is part of the US Imperial reach across the globe with special focus on China. The US has woken up late to China. It thought that allowing entry to the WTO would “soften up” China and encourage it to change course and jettison its commitment to build a modern socialist economy, throw off its links to Marx and Lenin and set about creating the conditions for the establishment of a liberal democracy.
The US policy of “Guns and Butter” had forced Gorbachev to dismantle the USSR and more of the same would achieve the same result with China – thought the US. But Washington got it wrong. Its academics failed to get their History right. Its politicians could not grasp the dynamic of China’s development. China was not – and is not – the USSR Mark 2.
The US has now realised that China is not for turning and it is scrambling to deal with the new phenomenon of 1.4bn people. A strong vein of US thinking has concluded that if China will not change internally then it has to brought down externally. After all the US is #1 and can brook no rival. Hence the build-up of military might around China. The US is engaged in a trial of strength with the rising China. China is willing to accommodate the US and save it from its own path to confrontation. China is shrewd, experienced and knowledgeable. Its leadership has accumulated considerable brain power. It understands the US and will follow a tit-for-tat path of confrontation and co-operation. China knows how to blow hot and cold.
But the build up to War continues apace and the creation of the US five military repair hubs in Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore and the Philippines is a clear sign of preparation for War. The US has more to do and China will display dexterity and flexibility as it responds to the growing US threat. We live in unsettling times.
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# 2 US/UK UNIFIED APPROACH TO CHINA
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
“The US and Britain underscored their commitment to a unified approach on China as the long-time allies opened a new bilateral strategic dialogue in London on Tuesday.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy stressed the importance of their countries liaising on global issues, including their stance towards Beijing, at a news conference at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Lammy touted the allies’ partnership in the Indo-Pacific region and their dealings with China, saying these issues would play a central role in the strategic talks.
China’s Xi urges US to be a partner, not rival, for ‘mutual success’ in meeting with Blinken
Blinken described Britain as an “indispensable partner” in tackling various global issues, including “the challenge posed by China”.
The dialogue comes amid rising global tensions. The US and Britain are seeking to strengthen their position in the Indo-Pacific amid China’s expanding sway there.
The US and China are locked in a contest to gain access to prime maritime routes in the region and rich mineral deposits lining the Pacific floor. Each seeks strategic defence advantages that come from forging alliances with countries across the vast area.
In this vein, Lammy in June said he would undertake “a full audit … of our relationship with China so that we can set the direction and a course” in remarks at an event hosted by London-based think tank Chatham House.
GRAHAM PERRY COMMENTS;-
A coming issue for Westminster is the extent to which the UK pursues its “Special Relationship” with the US to the extent of following in US footsteps as it prepares for War with China. The Labour Government in the tradition of Attlee, Gaitskill, Blair and Brown is closely allied to Washington. Only Harold Wilson during the Vietnam War showed a measure of independence when he resisted LBJ pressure to send British troops to Vietnam. Otherwise London has always been in step with Washington.
A test is approaching. Decisions will have to be made in Downing Street about the extent of British compliance with US Foreign Policy especially in relation to China. It is likely that the recently initiated Lord Robertson Strategic Foreign Policy Review will identify China as a leading player in the West’s newly defined Axis of Authoritarianism. We will have to see if the UK is lining up four square behind the US and what it means for UK’s own policy to China.
Foreign Secretary Lammy, according to the informed article in the South China Morning Post, has talked up the US/UK partnership and identified their links in the Indo-Pacific region and their respective dealings with China as being issues at the core of the Washington/London alliance.
Issues are coming to the surface – all the more so when it is remembered that the two countries, together with Australia, are engaged in the joint manufacture of nuclear-powered submarines whose main area of activity will be in the South China Sea. China has its eyes wide open.
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#3 SOUTH-EAST ASIA COUNTRIES VISITING RUSSIA
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
“During his two day visit President Anwar of Malaysia held a bilateral meeting with Putin and delivered a speech at the EEF’s plenary session.
He became the sixth Southeast Asian leader to meet Putin since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, after his Asean counterparts from Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, as well as Indonesian president-elect Prabowo Subianto.”
GRAHAM PERRY COMMENTS;-
This item of news serves to remind us that the whole world is not behind the US/NATO policy on Russia re the Ukraine War.
One view is that an Imperialist, Expansionist Russia is growing, extending and widening its international political and military grip on world affairs. Russia needs to be brought to heel. There is another quite different view – that the US/NATO alliance has provoked Russia into action by intentionally extending NATO’s military presence and playing to Russia’s fears – Napoleon/Hitler – of renewed Western invasion of Russia.
A Peace deal will be struck eventually with Russia in control of seized Ukrainian territory but this War could and should have been avoided. It happened because the US in a fundamentally flawed political decision saw Russia as the main challenge to US power. The US was wrong. Only China has the economic power to displace the US as the #1 World Economic Power in and in a significant show of political strength six countries from South-East Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Laos) have snubbed the US by visiting Russia in defiance of US/UK/NATO pressure. This has significance not just in Europe but more importantly in the Far East where the US is trying so hard to build an anti-China alliance.
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#4 THE US TYPHON MISSILE SYSTEM THREATENS CHINA
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
Washington’s plans to retain its Typhon missile system in the Philippines while stepping up defence engagement with other Asia-Pacific allies pose heightened security risks for China, according to analysts.
The mid-range missile system has remained in the Philippines since it was brought in during a joint exercise with American forces in April, as tensions spiked in the South China Sea between rival claimants Beijing and Manila – a US treaty ally.
Why is the Philippines aligning itself with the US after years of close China ties under Duterte
Washington had no immediate plans to withdraw the system despite demands from Beijing, Reuters reported last week, adding that the US was testing the feasibility of using the system in a regional conflict.
Zhu Feng, executive dean of Nanjing University’s School of International Studies, said the United States’ moves were reminiscent of the Cold War.
“[The US] is deploying missiles in the Philippines now, and it could possibly [deploy weapons] to [treaty allies] South Korea and Japan in the future, and it is essentially provoking a new cold war in the Asia-Pacific region,” he said.
The Typhon system, which is stationed on the northern Philippine island of Luzon, can be equipped with cruise missiles to strike targets in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait. This is the first time that a mid-range missile system has been stationed in the Asia-Pacific since a 1987 US-Soviet treaty prohibited such deployments
GRAHAM PERRY COMMENTS;-.
War against China is on the US agenda. 2027 is the year underlined by the US Joint Chiefs of Staff and the US Typhon System is evidence of growing US military presence in the region. War is not inevitable. It may be avoided at the 11th hour but the build-up continues relentlessly and senior members of the US military have the bit between their teeth with a vengeance. This is no secret and a regular read of Foreign Affairs reinforces the priority given by the Central Intelligence Agency to the likelihood of military conflict with China.
How does this affect the UK? The answer is “seriously”. The Starmer Government shows little sign of following the example of former Prime Minister Harold Wilson who in the face of intense pressure from President Johnson refused to send even one UK soldier, sailor or pilot to aid the US hopeless war in Vietnam. Will Prime Minister Starmer show the same political courage and separate the UK from increased US military build up in the Far East as a prelude to a probable US/China War.
Is it crazy to think in these terms? After all there has been no world war since 1945. Surely sane leaders will avoid conflict – won’t they? Peace must supplant War? Well, No. We have to take the threat of War seriously. The US is struggling. They have failed with a sustained anti-China policy. Washington cannot accept that the US which has been the #1 World Economic Power since 1945 is about to be overtaken by China.
The US Typhon initiative is significant. The Typhon system will be stationed on the northern Philippine island of Luzon. It can be equipped with cruise missiles to strike targets in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait. This is the first time that a mid-range missile system has been stationed in the Asia-Pacific since a 1987 US-Soviet treaty prohibited such deployments. The build-up is underway. The Far East may seem a long distance away from London and Westminster but things are happening and it affects us all.
Graham Perry
