Dangerous U.S. Aim to Create Asian NATO
Since May 2022, the U.S., Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) have held more then two dozen high-level meetings. One of the highest profile of these meetings were the talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and ROK President Yoon Suk-yeol on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Madrid on June 29, 2022. This meeting required cajoling by the U.S. to overcome the reluctance of Japan's ruling circles to be seen as showing deference toward its former colony, and the latter not wanting to be seen as conciliating with the former colonial oppressor.
The tripartite
meetings are meant to present a united front so
that
the U.S. can claim it has willing partners in its hegemonic aims in the
region, despite the contradictions between the ROK and Japan. These
include Japan's ongoing refusal to apologize and make reparations for
its war-time
enslavement of nearly 1 million Koreans.
Japan's ruling circles have their own aims to remilitarize Japan and send its troops abroad to extend its economic and military power. Creating hysteria about the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) provides a pretext for this and massive increases to its military spending.
The meetings of the U.S., Japan and the ROK have been very focused on trying to demonize the DPRK, using the term "denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula" to blame the DPRK for the rising tensions in the area. It is the U.S. that has been bringing nuclear weapons into the ROK since 1958 in violation of the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement. The constant threats by the U.S. have led the DPRK to develop its nuclear deterrent. This is to say nothing about the fact that the only country proven to be a nuclear threat worldwide is the U.S., which criminally used atomic bombs on Japan in 1945. Despite all of this, the U.S. has used these meetings to posture with its "unshakeable commitment" to the defence of the ROK and Japan, including recourse to the use of nuclear weapons.
At these meetings, the phrases "free and open Indo-Pacific" and "rules-based international order" are also touted. These are euphemisms for the imperialist dictate of might makes right, namely, that the warships of the U.S. and others, including the UK and Canada, can go where they please. Canada's role in enforcing an illegal naval blockade on the DPRK, the encroachment by these forces on the territorial waters of other countries, as well as provocative acts aimed at China such as sending warships through the Strait of Taiwan are all examples of this.
Despite claims by the U.S., Japan and the ROK that the aim is not to have an Asian NATO, this is precisely what is unfolding. Such an alliance is anathema to the desire of the peoples of Japan and Korea for peaceful relations and their rejection of the scourge of war. The Japanese people in the main reject attempts by the ruling circles in their country to remove the pacifist safeguards in the constitution preventing Japan's armed forces from being deployed abroad once again. The Korean people seek the peaceful reunification of their nation free from outside interference. Along with the Chinese people and others, they continue to seek meaningful restitution for the crimes of Japanese colonialism and militarism, which the ruling circles in Japan who seek to revive militarism, refuse to do. Neither the Japanese nor Korean people want U.S. bases and troops in their countries, and NATO's warmongering in Europe makes clear that an Asian NATO will not serve their interests and striving for peace.
U.S. Aggressive Role at APEC Summit
A notable event took place on November 18, 2022, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, where U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris convened Prime Minister Kishida of Japan, Prime Minister Han of the ROK, Prime Minister Albanese of Australia, Prime Minister Ardern of New Zealand and Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada. It showed that besides creating an Asian NATO with Japan and the ROK, the U.S. imperialists also expect Canada, New Zealand and Australia to come to heel in support of U.S. hegemonic aims in Asia.
The pretext for the meeting was that the DPRK had tested a long-range ballistic missile. This event was presented outside the context of the DPRK's decision to develop such armaments in response to ceaseless U.S. aggression and refusal to undertake legitimate negotiations for peace since the end of the Korean War, unless forced to do so.
Instead, the White House gave a self-serving rendering of the meeting at APEC to demonize and isolate the DPRK. The U.S. claimed "that the path to dialogue remains open for the DPRK" and that the meeting "called on the DPRK to abandon needless provocation and to return to serious and sustained diplomacy."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office similarly reported on his participation in the meeting with Harris: "The Prime Minister strongly condemned Pyongyang's provocation and called for continued international coordination to address the threat posed by north Korea's ongoing nuclear and ballistic missile programs."
U.S.-Led War Games Around the Korean Peninsula
Besides holding meetings with south Korea and Japan, the U.S. has stepped up tripartite war exercises with these two countries, to realize in practice a NATO-type aggressive alliance in Asia. All of these war exercises are presented as responses to activities by the DPRK, based on covering up that the U.S. remains the biggest threat to peace in the region and that the aim of such exercises is not self-defence but to prepare for U.S.-led aggression and war in Asia.
The U.S. Department of Defense reported, "From August 8-14, 2022, the United States Navy, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and ROK Navy participated in a missile warning and ballistic missile search and tracking exercise during the multinational Pacific Dragon exercise off the coast of the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii."
It added that "Following the June 11 U.S.-ROK-Japan Trilateral Ministerial Meeting in Singapore, this missile warning and ballistic missile search and tracking exercise demonstrated the commitment of the U.S., ROK, and Japan to furthering trilateral cooperation to respond to DPRK challenges, protecting shared security and prosperity, and bolstering the rules-based international order."
On September 30, 2022, navies of the ROK, the U.S. and Japan staged trilateral anti-submarine exercises to the east of the Korean Peninsula. Predictably, the ROK navy said that the exercises were "designed to improve their capability to respond to increasing north Korean submarine threats, including its submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM)," while the U.S. navy said the drills would enhance inter-operability and tactical and technical coordination between the three countries. The U.S. and Japanese navies also said the exercises would promote "a free and open Indo-Pacific."
These anti-submarine drills had been on hiatus since 2017 as part of efforts by the prior ROK government of Moon Jae-in to create the conditions for negotiations between the DPRK and the U.S. Current ROK President Yoon Suk-yeol, has specifically stated his aim to further embroil the ROK in "trilateral security cooperation" with the U.S. and Japan.
The three countries held a "trilateral ballistic missile defence exercise in the waters between Korea and Japan" on October 6, 2022, which the U.S. Navy said "enhances the interoperability of our collective forces and demonstrates the strength of the trilateral relationship with our Japan and ROK allies, which is forward-leaning, reflective of our shared values, and resolute against those who challenge regional stability." It also stated that in the same week, the U.S. "conducted air exercises with our ROK and Japanese Allies, as well as a joint tactical missile live-fire exercise with the ROK."
Another tripartite naval exercise was held on February 22, which was said to focus on ballistic missile information-sharing.
While the U.S. military speaks of "shared values," it is a fact that under the ROK/U.S. Combined Forces Command established in 1978, during time of war, the ROK military is subordinate to U.S. command, not unlike how Canada's military is subordinate to U.S. Northern Command. The U.S. has some 24,000 troops and 15 bases in the ROK.
Meanwhile, U.S. Forces Japan imposes 50,000 U.S. soldiers in 23 bases across Japan.
This article was published in
Volume 53 Number 5 - March 2023
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2023/Articles/MS53054.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca