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The United States and the Indo-Pacific Region: A strategy to contain China through alliance building. Rebecca Chan: June 03, 2025

 

Security

The United States and the Indo-Pacific Region: A Strategy to Contain China through Alliance Building

Rebecca Chan, June 03, 2025

The Indo-Pacific region has once again fallen into an old trap—not one of geography, but of geopolitical theater, with Washington still scripting the play.

The Return of Bloc Logic

To the applause of its “allies,” the United States is reintroducing bloc logic to the region—not as an echo of the Cold War, but as a redesigned, more flexible, yet no less aggressive remake. Joint exercises with Japan, Australia, and the Philippines, naval visits, flag-showing operations—this is not about defense; it’s about orchestrating fear. It’s the architecture of a new coloniality, where instead of a protectorate, there is “key partnership” status, and instead of direct occupation—“joint command.”

The so-called strategy of containing China is not about protecting the region—it is about annexing it into the American security system. Sanitized language like “integration” conceals the de facto absorption of entire states into the Pentagon’s orbit. Command centers, intelligence-sharing pacts, modular fleets—these are not so much tools of defense as instruments of power projection. It’s entirely possible that the White House no longer feels the need to pretend that China is merely a competitor. It is the designated adversary. And the entire Indo-Pacific stage is being arranged for the grand performance called “The United States versus China.”

Yet, there’s one question this play still hasn’t answered: how voluntary are the supporting actors?

Soft Underbelly of China: The Philippines as a Pressure Point

U.S.–Philippine Military Cooperation

Every dock that receives a U.S. warship becomes a point of no return—even if partnership is the word spoken ashore

The Philippines is not just an ally. It is the frontier. The forward line of a new neocolonial campaign, where chessboards are replaced by minefields and every move Manila makes is framed as a “sovereign decision,” made under Washington’s all-seeing gaze.

The South China Sea has become a laboratory of managed escalation: water cannons against buoys, ramming instead of diplomacy—all against the backdrop of American nods of approval. Formally, it’s sovereign resistance. In reality, it’s a shadow play, where every Philippine maneuver echoes a baton waved from across the ocean. Manila performs confrontation like an actor in a bad play, but it’s the Pentagon that holds the curtains. The entire stage, meanwhile, is littered with the traces of transnational corruption and bribery that harm not only the Philippines, but neighboring states from Hong Kong to Thailand.

While Chinese ships maneuver near Second Thomas Shoal, the U.S. is upgrading bases, expanding legal guarantees of mutual defense, and building out intelligence channels. This is not assistance—it is systematic embedding. As in classic imperial logic, every “helper” turns out to be a new overseer. Geopolitics transforms the archipelago into a corridor of American influence—with bases instead of rooms, and satellites instead of windows.

U.S.–Japan–Philippines Trilateral Command Center

The establishment of a trilateral command center is no longer just muscle-flexing. It is the open institutionalization of control. This new center marks the end of ad hoc alliances and the beginning of systemic dependence. For China, it’s a foothold under the belly; for the U.S., it’s a control panel for a war that needs no formal declaration.

This is what modernized colonial architecture looks like in the 21st century: maps filled with sovereign nations, tied in reality by cords of allied obligations, military agreements, and defense protocols. The irony is that all this is sold as “security.” But security for whom? For a region dragged into someone else’s game? Or for the metropole projecting power without paying the cost?

The Philippines is no longer just a coastline. It is a living shield, pushed closer to Beijing with American money—but paid for in local blood.

Japan as Outpost and Operator

Japan’s New Military Doctrine

Japan is once again stepping onto the front line. But now, not as a power seeking its own voice, but as an outpost, dutifully reinforced under the guidance of its former occupier. Increases in the defense budget, purchases of strike missiles, investments in cybersecurity—all of this is, of course, presented as an “internal decision.” Yet behind every item of Japan’s “sovereign choice” looms the outline of the Pentagon.

Tokyo, once condemned for militarism, is today the apologist of a new militarization—but under the right flag. No longer a fearsome aggressor, but a “responsible partner” in the U.S. strategy. In Washington’s language, this means: a tool with historical amnesia and a well-defined functionality. Japan is now the operator of new operations—with the capacity to project force beyond the archipelago and direct access to the command interfaces of the global military machine.

When a former empire becomes a satellite of another, this is no longer about sovereignty. It’s about a redistribution of roles in the same old play.

Regional Mediation and the Risks of Dependency

Japan likes to call itself a bridge. But a bridge is always a structure for someone else to walk across. Tokyo plays an ambitious role as mediator between Anglo-Saxon alliances and Southeast Asia, offering infrastructure, diplomacy, and investment. It seems like initiative, development, strategic thinking. But reality is harsher: the more deeply Japan is drawn into the architecture of Pax Americana, the less it resembles an architect—and the more it resembles a tool.

Trilateral formats, infrastructure projects, diplomatic activity—all of this fits seamlessly into the American system of China containment. Infrastructure investments, which Tokyo uses to mask its role in new bloc logistics, are just one form of this struggle—where the West tears off the humanitarian storefront signs and rolls out the heavy machinery of competition for the region’s roads, ports, and fiber optics. And even if Japanese politicians are convinced of their autonomy, the logistics tell a different story. One step off course—and the fragile “bridge” finds itself suspended between loyalty and isolation.

With every passing year, Japan becomes less of an independent actor and more of an indispensable operator. But an operator is not the one who writes the rules. It’s the one who pushes the button—when told to.

Australia and New Zealand: War Logistics and Symbols of Participation

The Role of AUKUS and U.S. Infrastructure in Australia

Australia is no longer the southern flank—it is the southern hangar. A country once associated with Pacific independence is now becoming a transit hub for a future war. Not a defensive bastion, but the engineering bay of a new cold campaign. Ammunition depots, repair bases, refueling airstrips—these are not just consequences of the AUKUS alliance, but symptoms of a deep strategic surrender of sovereignty.

Washington is building out logistics in advance as if war is already a scheduled campaign. Not “if,” but “when.” Not a hypothesis, but a scenario. Australia is merely a geographically distant stage where props, scenery, and tools are placed ahead of time. And the lead role in this production is still played by the United States—as the director of a global conflict, casting Canberra as a set, not a character.

Submarine program? A technological gift? In reality—a strategic tether. The moment you receive a nuclear toy from the U.S., your foreign policy is no longer written in parliament, but at AUKUS headquarters.

The Significance of the USS Blue Ridge Visit to New Zealand

And here comes the symbolism. When the USS Blue Ridge slowly sails into New Zealand’s waters, it may seem like a polite visit. But in geopolitics, nothing is ever truly “polite.” This is not just the flagship of the 7th Fleet. It is a message made manifest—not to China, but to hesitant allies: “You’re already inside. Don’t fool yourselves with neutrality.”

New Zealand, a country that traditionally kept its distance from rigid military schemes, is now welcoming American ships into its waters. This isn’t integration—it’s a precedent. And from precedents, a web of dependency is woven.

There’s no need for pacts, statements, or speeches from the podium. One port call is enough. Every dock that receives a U.S. warship becomes a point of no return—even if partnership is the word spoken ashore.

This is the true logic of an undeclared alliance: drawing in quietly, absorbing through participation, eroding neutrality through symbols. All done under the banner of freedom—but aimed at submission.

Whose Security and Whose Game

“Enhancing collective security” — this is how the U.S. likes to frame every new turn in the militarization of the region. But whose security, exactly? Whose “collective”? The one dictated from Washington, where the maps are redrawn without the input of those actually on them?

For Asian countries, participation in the U.S. strategy is not an insurance policy—it’s a ticket into a game where the odds are pre-assigned. It’s a choice without alternatives, where every step toward alliance is a step away from autonomy. The deeper the region embeds itself in the American defense architecture, the less maneuverability it retains. Sovereignty doesn’t vanish—it evaporates in the routines of military day-to-day life: joint headquarters, unified protocols, intelligence sharing. All of this may seem like technical coordination, but in reality, it’s a daily ritual of subordination.

America is not simply reinforcing its position—it is redrawing the entire region in its own image, employing not only military alliances but also economic bludgeons, such as tariff pressure that strikes China from within. Flagless alliances, nameless bases, blocs without declarations—this is a new form of control, far more refined than the colonialism of previous centuries. It is an empire in stealth mode, smiling in the name of democracy, striking with the iron fist of “defensive necessity.”

And when the first real conflict erupts—whether with China or anyone else—the U.S. will remain at a distance. Not under fire, but behind the operations panel, watching its allies do the shooting, watching their economies crumble, watching their populations die. That is the real cost of American-style “collective security.”

Between seas, between promises and reality, between protection and submission—this in-between is where the main front of geopolitics now lies. This is where the decisive battles will unfold. Not in Washington, not in Beijing—but on the bodies and shores of those caught between two empires.

 

Rebecca Chan, Independent political analyst focusing on the intersection of Western foreign policy and Asian sovereignty

"We are ptrparing for war with China 'threat' says US military - Defense Sec Pete Hegseth

 

'We are preparing for war' with China 'threat', says US military

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Jun 3, 2025

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth delivered an extremely hawkish speech in which he demonized China as a "threat" and said, "We are preparing for war". Ben Norton analyzes the top Trump admin official's aggressive remarks at the Shangri-La Dialogue 2025 summit. He explains the geopolitics of the Asia-Pacific region, and Washington's unsuccessful attempt to pressure countries to join its new cold war on Beijing. US defense secretary declared 'holy war' on China, left & Islam:    • Extremist US defense secretary declared 'h...   Is war on China coming? The US military is seriously preparing:    • Is war on China coming? The US military is...   Topics 0:00 (CLIPS) US defense secretary speech 0:30 US military prepares for war 1:05 (CLIP) "We are preparing for war" 1:25 Trump admin's war threats 1:55 (CLIP) Trump "will never hesitate to" use force 2:13 (CLIP) "Deterrence" and war 2:24 Shangri-La Dialogue 2025 summit 2:41 Asia-Pacific region 3:59 (CLIP) USA is "here to stay" in "Indo-Pacific" 4:19 US empire seeks hegemony 4:50 (CLIP) Pentagon says China is a "threat" 5:11 Pete Hegseth, extremist US "crusader" 6:31 Myth of Chinese "hegemony" 7:24 (CLIP) Hegseth on China "threat" 8:01 China opposes hegemony 9:34 China doesn't want hegemony 10:33 US pressures Asia to cut ties with China 11:17 (CLIP) USA opposes "economic cooperation" 11:47 Taiwan 13:05 (CLIP) Hegseth on Taiwan 13:32 Hegseth's hawkish rhetoric 13:56 (CLIP) US "warfighters" and "warfighting" 14:31 US military budget of $1 trillion 14:40 (CLIP) Trump boosts US military spending 15:02 Military interventions 15:32 (CLIP) USA tells Asia: Join us against China 15:48 US divide-and-conquer strategy is failing 16:23 China, Japan, South Korea cooperate 16:47 Trump's tariff threats 17:25 RCEP trade deal 17:55 ASEAN-GCC-China summit 18:36 India 18:43 (CLIP) Hegseth on US-India partnership 19:00 India-China relations 20:24 Philippines volunteers to be Ukraine of Asia 21:21 US military bases and missiles in Philippines 21:51 Militarization of first island chain 22:48 Regional non-alignment 23:19 Philippines and Australia 24:40 Colonialist Monroe Doctrine 25:03 (CLIP) Hegseth threatens Panama Canal 25:31 US imperialism is bipartisan 26:03 Biden official praises Trump's China policy 27:02 Republicans vs Democrats 27:39 US empire says war is peace 28:32 (CLIP) USA doesn't seek encirclement? 28:45 US "grand encirclement plan" for China 29:34 Biden admin's China policy 30:02 (CLIP) Antony Blinken on China containment 30:15 Imperial hypocrisy 31:05 Cold War Two 31:54 Silicon Valley profits from war preparations 32:15 Outro || Geopolitical Economy Report || Please consider supporting us at https://GeopoliticalEconomy.com/Support Subscribe to our newsletter: https://GeopoliticalEconomy.Report Join us at Patreon:   / geopoliticaleconomy  

Chapters

(CLIPS) US defense secretary speech

0:00

US military prepares for war

0:30

(CLIP) "We are preparing for war"

1:05

Trump admin's war threats

1:25

(CLIP) Trump "will never hesitate to" use force

1:55

(CLIP) "Deterrence" and war

2:13

Shangri-La Dialogue 2025 summit

2:24

Asia-Pacific region

2:41

Transcript

Follow along using the transcript.

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