Posted on 01/13/2023 2:38:00 PM PST by MarMema
The United States is now publicly discussing the "containment" of China with its Asia-Pacific vassals. On January 8, the Financial Times reported that the supreme US Marine Corps commander for Japan gave very direct statements regarding Pentagon's China strategy. Lieutenant General James Bierman thinks there are "numerous parallels" between Ukraine and Taiwan and admits the US is preparing what he dubbed "a counter-China theater" by strengthening coordination with its regional satellite states.
"The US and Japanese armed forces are rapidly integrating their command structure and scaling up combined operations as Washington DC and its Asian allies prepare for a possible conflict with China such as a war over Taiwan, according to the top Marine Corps general in Japan," the FT report states.
Japan has indeed become more active, as its new government decided to abandon the economy-focused policies Tokyo practiced since WWII ended. The historic shift doesn't only include (re)militarization, but also an increasing rivalry with three regional powers - China, North Korea and Russia. Apart from a break with its military neutrality, as Tokyo is massively increasing its defense budget, USMC Lieutenant General Bierman confirmed that Japan is exponentially expanding its role in joint military operations with America.
In what can only be described as a complete break with even a semblance of diplomatic etiquette, the US general spoke in a very direct and rough manner, particularly in regards to the ongoing arming of Taiwan, claiming this serves "to prepare" the island similarly to how the Kiev regime has been since 2014. His exact statement was as follows:
"Why have we achieved the level of success we’ve achieved in Ukraine? A big part of that has been because after Russian aggression in 2014 and 2015, we earnestly got after preparing for future conflict: training for the Ukrainians, pre-positioning of supplies, identification of sites from which we could operate support, sustain operations. We call that setting the theatre. And we are setting the theatre in Japan, in the Philippines, in other locations."
The interview is scandalous, to say the least, as it can hardly be considered anything else but an attempt to provoke China. This is further reinforced by the US general's explicit comparison of Taiwan and Ukraine, which is a textbook example of how the political West generates conflicts that then turn into open warfare. Bierman's position as the commander of the Third Marine Expeditionary Force and USMC Forces Japan makes these statements all the more disturbing and alarming, especially to Beijing, which has been making strides to improve relations with the US.
As the general casually admitted the political West spent years preparing the Kiev regime for war with Russia (while feigning "efforts for a peaceful resolution"), his comments about Taiwan are quite revealing and will surely be taken very seriously in China. Even the FT, one of the flagships of Western mainstream media, admits that Bierman's statements are an "unusually frank" comparison with Ukraine. To make matters worse, he didn't stop there, but made several more controversial "frank comments". The FT claims the general's further statements were as follows:
"When you talk about the complexity, the size of some of the operations they would have to conduct, let’s say [in] an invasion of Taiwan, there will be indications and warnings, and there are specific aspects to that in terms of geography and time, which allow us to posture and be most prepared... ...You gain a leverage point, a base of operations, which allows you to have a tremendous head start in different operational plans. As we square off with the Chinese adversary, who is going to own the starting pistol and is going to have the ability potentially to initiate hostilities... ...we can identify decisive key terrain that must be held, secured, defended, leveraged."
The aforementioned preparations also include the Philippines. Manila reportedly plans to allow US forces to double their prepositioned weapons and logistics in the island country. In addition to five Filipino bases, the Pentagon will gain access to five more, all of which will be part of the "China containment effort". Bierman also "cautioned" the US regional vassals "not to overestimate the Chinese military", claiming that "the PLA should not be fearfully seen as being 10 feet tall".
It's quite clear the general couldn't have possibly acted on his own when giving such statements, indicating that the Pentagon refuses to deescalate the ever-growing tensions in the increasingly contested Asia-Pacific region. If Washington DC continues with these aggressive Sinophobic policies, Beijing is extremely unlikely to stand idle. China's aim is a peaceful settlement with Taipei and this isn't just its official position, but a clearly defined goal. Beijing has consistently been working to achieve this through diplomatic and economic means. For decades, it invested heavily in improving ties with the island, offering unparalleled autonomy.
On the other hand, America has been "discouraging" Taipei from signing any deals with China. This has prompted Beijing to further invest in its military might. Although China's primary focus is economic development, it also had to make plans for strategically important contingencies such as further arming of Taiwan, to say nothing of the US-backed independence movement which has gained traction in recent decades. Although it hasn't given up on a diplomatic solution, as it's still investing in a "soft power" approach towards its breakaway island province, China still needs to mitigate the disastrous effects of the significant US regional influence.
Good question. So maybe it was deliberate provocation.
Its going to be a “come as you are war”. It takes so long to build modern major weapons that large expansions of the Air Force and Navy will take a decade. No use for conscription.
This is not WW2, where the US could build 20 large aircraft carriers in three years. Those were very simple things.
The joint interest is destroying US hegemony.
Nations are lined up around the block to join them.
The Saudis ignore Biden but gave Xi a royal welcome.
How long before their Dedollarization and in some cases superior military, along with our ever expanding debt and moronic leadership, pound the last nail into our coffin?
Which of these has been supplied to Ukraine in any numbers?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Navy_weapons
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_equipment_of_the_United_States_Air_Force
What’s this “We,” kemosabe? Your posting history suggests your allegiance is NOT to United States. It appears to be more towards Russia.
Not exactly. The US has basing rights, but no permanent base.
The Philippines is too close to China to be a secure logistics/maintenance base these days. Its an hour by fighter bomber from South China.
That was HILARIOUS - but the Azovnistas here get the frowny-face when they think about their boy Bidenopoulus getting dissed like that.
The fossils that are arguing with you are still riding the petrodollar dinosaur - soon to be extinct under the loving ministrations of BRICS and done to death by the DC neocons. 
Nothing boosts an economy like a good old fashioned knock down drag out between two super powers. Woke military drop your gun, grab your weapon, pull up your panties and fight right? That’ll boost bill gates population goal numbers.
We can certainly kick her ass in a fashion show, or a drag queen contest.
If it goes nuclear everyone loses. Our modern woke military couldn’t defeat smelly goatherds from the 7th century and a chomo in chief surrendered to them. China better act fast on Taiwan. Chomo Joe is the weakest most corrupt president in history and who knows how much longer China Mitch keeps sucking oxygen.
Just to be clear over there they just call it food
There is no replacement for the petrodollar. Part of it is that there is no competing currency with a gdp base to base its currency on, and more significantly, no import demand with which to justify it, and moreover no sense of security (call it a low estimate of political risk) to justify it as a place to park capital.
If you had a spare billion$ and are looking for a safe place to park it (we arent talking of speculative investments), where would you put it?
The closest anyone has come to all that is the EU with the Euro.
If it comes to a sort of “global Euro” there might be an alternative. But thats not going to happen with the current slate of players.
I guess this idiot author has never heard the phrase “Si vis pacem, para bellum”.
“All of their trade with the United States would cease. No more Chinese junk on the shelves of Walmart.”
And what nearly everybody completely ignores is: no more imports that China needs to keep its manufacturing going. Everyone know that China is the #1 exporter but few also consider that China is also the #2 importer in the world. They import a lot of key goods they can’t run their economy very well without, and almost all of their top trading partners are Western nations that would cease all trade in the event of a major war.
Keep talking, Spaniard.
Simple truth evident to anyone. And it is particularly relevant to non-Americans. The real experts here ARE foreigners. Where does “flight capital” fly to, and why?
Certainly not in dollars or Euros, as the West has so clearly demonstrated to the rest of the world.
Who would be dumb enough to leave their wealth within the grasp of US or EU kleptocrats, who are even now figuring out ways to steal the frozen Russian assets.
They're only encumbered by that pesky ol' "international law" stuff.
I heard today that the Estonians are going to be the test case for the theft:
https://bnn-news.com/latvian-mep-we-need-a-legal-way-to-confiscate-russias-frozen-assets-241385
Interesting, isn’t it, that the Russian oligarchs planted their billions, vast sums amounting to half of Russia’s monetized wealth, abroad, well within the reach of US/EU/British sanctions? Why, one wonders?
The rule here is not to PO the US AND Europe. This has happened before, in WW2, to Iran, to Iraq, to Russia in 2014, etc. Not new.
One wonders why you’re changing the subject, EuroWeenie.
The subject is the pirates of DC and the EU.
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