U.S. Marines participate in an exercise in Australia, July 22, 2019.
Recently, the Liaoning aircraft carrier formation has been training in the waters near Taiwan, and a large number of Chinese militia ships have been occupying Philippine waters, causing tension in the Taiwan and South China Seas. In response to the Chinese maritime threat, the U.S. military is preparing to send the Coast Guard (USCG) and the Marines to join forces to contain the Chinese Communist Party.
“The Liaoning aircraft carrier formation passed through the strait between the main island of Okinawa and Miyako Island in Japan on April 3, and the Chinese military claimed to be training in the waters around Taiwan, prompting the U.S., Japanese and Taiwanese authorities to be on alert.
U.S. Department of Defense spokesman John Kirby said at a press conference on April 6 that the U.S. side is closely monitoring the actions of the Chinese Communist Navy.
Kirby stressed that the U.S. will continue to work with many countries to help strengthen Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities. “We will be watching the region closely.”
In addition to the Taiwan Strait, the Chinese Communist Party is also causing trouble in the South China Sea. Since March 7, more than 200 Chinese Communist Party vessels have gathered in the waters around Niuyu Reef in the Spratly Islands. The Philippine government has accused these vessels of being CCP militia ships with weapons and equipment on board, posing a threat to Philippine maritime sovereignty.
The Philippines has asked the Chinese militia boats to leave as soon as possible and warned that the invasion could lead to a “gunfight” between the two sides. But so far, dozens of boats are still occupying the disputed waters.
The Chinese Communist Party’s maritime militia has more than 3,000 vessels that have been actively committing acts of aggression on the high seas and in the sovereign waters of other countries.
In response to the frequent moves by the Chinese navy, the United States will send two major military services: the U.S. Coast Guard and the Marine Corps, to join forces against the Chinese Communist Party.
The U.S. military website Military.com reported on April 5 that the U.S. military is pulling out five Coast Guard law enforcement vessels from Pearl Harbor to support friendly nations in the Western Pacific, and is teaming up with the Seventh Fleet’s Marines to fight the increasingly active Chinese Communist maritime police vessels and militia forces in local waters.
The five Coast Guard law enforcement vessels include two state-of-the-art Legend-class patrol boats, which carry the same armament as the U.S. Navy and can deploy short-range defense systems and a variety of radar and electronic warfare systems.
The U.S. Marine Corps is a Marine and amphibious force whose primary responsibility is to use the U.S. Navy’s fleet (including airmen) to quickly reach the various crisis locations around the world to carry out combat missions. The Marine Corps served a major role in the attack on Japan during World War II and later flew combat missions in Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan.
The U.S. Department of Defense believes that a well-coordinated Marine Corps and Coast Guard would be particularly well suited to respond to situations in the Western Pacific.
For example, in the event of a skirmish between the CCP and its neighbors over an EEZ dispute, fast-moving Marines could provide anti-ship missile cover for Coast Guard law enforcement in the event of the presence of CCP militia ships.
Some analysts believe that Coast Guard units carrying Marines can quickly and flexibly choose to respond to situations, deter the CCP, and force CCP vessels to lower tensions or withdraw.
In addition, the U.S. is actively working with its allies to meet the Chinese Communist challenge, and on April 5, a joint U.S., Japanese, Australian, Indian and French naval exercise, “La Pérouse,” was launched in the Bay of Bengal in India’s eastern waters.
France is an important member of NATO to deal with the Chinese Communist challenge. Analysts believe that the four-nation alliance consisting of the U.S., Japan, India and Australia may also develop into an Asian version of NATO (NATO) to counter the Chinese Communist Party.
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