Asia is reshaping its security architecture, analysts argued, in response to dual pressures of Beijing’s aggression and the US’ unpredictability.
Japan has boosted security ties with Australia, the Philippines, and India as Tokyo accelerates its military buildup; Canberra signed a defense pact with Fiji; and South Korea is racing to build nuclear-powered submarines.
While these arrangements don’t suggest a new NATO-style pact, Asian governments are creating “a flexible web of overlapping partnerships, logistics planning and intelligence sharing,” a former US diplomat wrote, with the aim of “building resilience against Beijing while showing Washington they can shoulder more of the burden.” Such an “allied system” looks to be more durable, a military analyst suggested, than relying on an “overextended” US.