Military of China, force comment.
Military of China, force comment.

Lee bird’s-eye view

The dispute over Huangyan Island, the Philippines, has attracted world attention, because it is a territorial sovereignty dispute between the rare small country with big powers. Prior to Obama and Hillary Clinton have said that the United States does not intervene in the dispute over China and the Philippines, while in fact the United States to send nuclear submarine to visit the Philippines, and prepare the equipment ground-based radar for the Philippine side. Recently, the US-Philippine Karat 2012 “military exercise has just ended, the legendary mind of the Philippines is very obvious. It can be said that the whole incident behind, often flash superpower shadow.

in fact, psychologically speaking, the feelings of the Americans in the Philippines is somewhat complex. From the hands of the Spanish colonists as early as the 1898 Spanish-American War, the U.S. military to “liberate” the Philippines. During World War II, MacArthur was a shameful, once dedicated to recapture the Philippines from Japanese hands. Since then, the Philippines has been a loyal ally of the United States, but after the end of the Cold War, relations between the two countries has alienated, under pressure, the U.S. military base in the Philippines also had to shut down, the outbreak of the Philippine domestic anti-American demonstrations so that Americans are obsessed with. But decided the closeness of relations between countries eventually national interests.

In recent years, the South China Sea dispute entered a new stage, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and other countries have submitted to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf delimitation program in the South China Sea, countries turned to the administration of the South China Sea islands and reefs and waters from the actual control resulting in the intensification of conflicts of sovereignty. Southeast Asian countries dare to large behind, is a small risk in the use of the United States to return to the Asia-Pacific this general trend. Global strategy from the point of view, the United States to return to the Asia-Pacific is actually a strategic contraction. In the context of the financial crisis, the maritime hegemony as the cornerstone of the United States, in Eurasia, especially after the setback of the Great Central Asia, had to force again returned to sea in order to ready, and this is the U.S. Navy’s sea system landing “the embodiment of thinking. Occupy a favorable geographical location in Southeast Asia island will once again become the United States to draw the object.

Southeast Asian countries, the South China Sea, the importance of self-evident. Return to Asia, the name of safeguarding regional security and its allies safe under the banner must be to make a certain gesture, in the South China Sea issue. In practice, however, the United States in the South China Sea, the power input and the actual action does not reach the extent of its claims.

Pacific region is different from the Middle East. Complex located in the heart of Eurasia, the Middle East, the geopolitical environment and religious relations, and Iran, several rounds down, the United States alone, confused and disoriented feeling. Back to the Pacific situation, the Americans appeared to be mature. Rise from the sea with the United States, to establish hegemony in the sea are inseparable. Of sea power on the nose Zuma Han Americans, Obama need to do the Pacific President, Pacific is the ocean of the Americans considerable psychological advantage. The South China Sea, the former commander of U.S. Pacific theater Willard once said that our activities in more than 100 years, we have an obligation to look after these waters, the speech reflects the domineering and self-confidence of a veteran naval power. But in the face to the Philippine dispute, giving the impression of the performance of the United States more cautious, this is the sophistication of

U.S. real strategic intent is to obtain the fisherman and benefit. Support in order to return to the Asia-Pacific needs the allies, but how the delivery is still very demanding. If the Pacific is always calm, small countries would not have to rely heavily on the U.S. umbrella, this clear in the chest, the Americans launched a “strategic rebalancing” is to make the South China Sea to maintain an appropriate troubled, or even condone a small country downtown a downtown. This can allow the allies to pay, contribute, to come forward to contain China, on the other hand to find a suitable reason exists to place themselves in maintaining a military. This mode is actually in Libya has been successful use had. Of course, the risk of this approach is that the conflict could escalate beyond the United States controlled the range. The ability to assess the strategic rather conceited, it does not seek to provocation and escalation of the dispute this point see more clearly. Thus Uncle Sam appeared very tolerant gas.

In addition, the return to the Asia-Pacific strategic context, the United States is also working to achieve a more flexible military deployment. In fact, in recent years, the U.S. Western Pacific deployment adjustment, it is no longer over-reliance on the layout of the island chain during the Cold War. U.S. military originally fixed the deployment of many other forms of deployment, for example, through the normalization of military exercises, the ships cruise, sea rescue, and other forms of mobile deployment of troops. The advantage is that: First, reduce the excessive deployment of troops on the first island chain was precisely to combat the risk; Second, by enhancing the ability of troops to delivery can still achieve rapid response, rapid reach; Third, do not have to rely entirely on the individual allies through joint exercises and other actions to strengthen military cooperation with allies, partners, moral commanding heights by maintaining regional security and sea rescue action.

look back at history, the perspective of the present in order to better grasp the future. Huangyan Island dispute reflects the deep-level power struggle. From the performance of the relevant countries, small countries may not be the losers of Foreign Affairs, Oriental leveraging the power of thinking may not be not be mastered by the West. Therefore, in the face of external pressure, physical strengthening the economy is still the first thing to do, in the turbulent international environment, but also see through each other’s strategic intentions to adhere to the “show management” no “weakness” in the struggle to ensure their own in moral support from many “status.

(Author: National Defense University)

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