Posted on 09/28/2020 9:55:11 PM PDT by RomanSoldier19
Chinas growing military prowess and increasingly aggressive foreign policy have revived talk among U.S. and European officials of creating an Asian NATO of regional powers to contain communist Beijings expansionist ambitions.
Past efforts for an East Asian security alliance, such as the post-World War II Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) to guard against Cold War-era communism, failed to gain lasting traction.
But that was before Chinas emergence as a rising superpower a reality NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said is fundamentally shifting the global balance of power in ways should motivate NATO itself to become more global.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...

A
This needs to be led by India, Japan, and the Muzzies like Indonesia/Malaysia.
The US should assist but unlike NATO the primary responsibility should be on the nearby nations. If they don’t want to defend themselves, they don’t deserve to be free.
"Free" in this context means free from Chinese domination? Because none of those nations are anywhere near "free" as we Freepers understand the term.
[”Free” in this context means free from Chinese domination? Because none of those nations are anywhere near “free” as we Freepers understand the term. ]
In other words, the same reason we got involved in WWII - to prevent the Axis Powers from becoming powerful enough through adding manpower and resources to become irresistible. China is already bigger than the US in geographical extent and 5x in manpower terms. We don’t need it getting any bigger.
“free from Chinese domination?”
Yes, exactly. Free from Chinese domination. I would say Japan and South Korea are relatively free places, India, by comparison to the PRC is a free place, Malaysia is, it seems to me, better than Indonesia but neither is a place I want to be.
But, especially because they are not “free” as we understand it, is why they need to protect themselves rather than having the US prop up their systems.
Japan, alone, could arguably checkmate China just by acquiring nukes......
No more NATOs.
We have one too many already.


[Yes, exactly. Free from Chinese domination. I would say Japan and South Korea are relatively free places, India, by comparison to the PRC is a free place, Malaysia is, it seems to me, better than Indonesia but neither is a place I want to be.
But, especially because they are not free as we understand it, is why they need to protect themselves rather than having the US prop up their systems.]
Japan and SK would have to be the military core along with Australia. Add in the ASEAN nations and India. But other than opposing Chinese hegemony, what do these countries have in common? Are they really going to step up if China invades a member state? Or are they going to cry for Uncle Sam to come expend our blood and treasure?
It’s not a bad idea.
You can’t call it NATO of course.
And ATO sounds too much like NATO.
ASTO where both AS and stand for Asian?
SCOT Stop China Organization Treaty (or stop communists)
SCAT Stop China Asian Treaty.
OTAC Organization Treaty of Asian Countries
APT Asian Protection Treaty
PACT Protection of Asian Countries Treaty
Just call it The Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere.
[But other than opposing Chinese hegemony, what do these countries have in common?]
Think the organization would need to be PTO vs NATO -
Just throwing it out there...
That is what I thought. What is this? Another paper tiger excuse?
All that was needed to put China to heel was to loan/deploy some Pershings on Taiwan or South Korea, no need of a fracking bureaucracy
China and North Korea are the only nations that Asian nations need to be protected from. China and North Korea have nuclear weapons and North Korea threatens to use them.
No nation in its right mind should join with China in a territorial pact, especially when China likes to invade neighboring countries.
“Just call it The Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere.”
Priceless - just as the EU dominated by Germany gave them what they couldn’t achieve in two world wars: Rule of the European continent. England never changed its currency or dropped the Commonwealth/Anglosphere because they understood they’d always be overshadowed by Germany on the continent itself. Now a few parts of the UK (Scotland, Northern Ireland) seem to be showing a preference for German rule by remaining in the EU after Brexit...
What could possibly go wrong?
The have a pact, and it should be expanded - ASEAN.
ASEAN should invite Australia, Japan and South Korea to join it and it should add a military secretariat within it, tasked with coordinating military defense plans.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.