Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and retired U.S. Navy Admiral James Stavridis, writing in Nikkei Asia, said President Joe Biden‘s national security team has drawn “red lines” on a number of actions that threaten national security, including China The U.S. military will respond with military action if China forcefully invades Taiwan and nearby outlying islands.
Stavridis’ article points to a recent article, “The Longer Telegram,” published by the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank, which provides important clues about the new deployment of U.S. forces across East Asia. The article details the U.S. strategy for dealing with China. He said it remains to be seen whether the Biden Administration fully adopts the measures outlined in the article, but believes his team is serious about addressing the Chinese threat.
Stavridis believes Kurt Campbell, head of Indo-Pacific affairs at the National Security Council, is qualified enough to lead a wide range of experts to provide the president with military options for the overall strategic picture. He believes that one of the military elements is a U.S. military response to possible “red lines.
These “red lines” to U.S. national security include “China or North Korea attacking the United States and its allies with nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons,” “China violating Taiwan and nearby outlying islands by force,” and “China’s economic blockade of Taiwan or its outlying islands. “China’s economic blockade of Taiwan or a large-scale Cyber Attack on Taiwan’s public infrastructure and institutions.
Other red lines include, “China attacks Japanese forces defending its sovereignty over what Japan calls the Senkaku Islands (or Diaoyu Islands, as China calls them) and surrounding economic waters in the East China Sea,” “China takes significant hostile action in the South China Sea to further develop and militarize the islands and reefs in order to deploy its military against other claimants to sovereignty “The United States and its allied navies have been impeded from carrying out full freedom of navigation operations,” and “China has attacked the sovereign territories and military facilities of U.S. allies.
Stavridis said the U.S. Marine Corps is determined to hold down the seas and maintain navigation to the South China Sea and into the first island chain.
He added that once in the first island chain, the Marines can use armed Drones, special forces “Marine Raiders” (Marine Raiders) with cyber attack capabilities, anti-aircraft missiles and even ship-hunting weapons to attack China’s maritime forces and, more importantly, the PLA’s land bases of operation. He cited the example of China’s militarized artificial reefs in the South China Sea, which could be within range of attack.
Stavridis said the U.S. Department of Defense hopes that NATO allies such as the United Kingdom and France can participate. The United States will also lobby Australia, New Zealand, India, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Vietnam to participate in such military deployment operations. The U.S. wants to build a global maritime alliance against the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
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