US destabilizing factor in Asia-Pacific

Threats to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific are increasing as a result of the United States expanding its military presence in the region and persuading its allies to join it in its attempt to contain China.

The provocative steps the US has taken include staging more frequent and increasingly sophisticated military exercises in the South China Sea and its incessant efforts to meddle in the Taiwan question, with the secessionist forces on the island being willing pawns in its games. Just a day prior to the People's Liberation Army starting naval exercises in the waters around Taiwan in a show of its resolve in response to the separatism-inflected inauguration speech of the island's new leader, the US and the Dutch navies conducted bilateral operations in the South China Sea. They claimed the joint exercises were aimed at "maintaining stability and free use of vital sea lanes in the 'Indo-Pacific'".

The joint operations were held shortly after US and Filipino forces launched their largest combat exercises in years last month. Running until early May, they involved more than 16,000 of their military personnel, with another 250 French and Australian personnel also taking part in them. In particular, the deployment of a US ground-launched missile system to the northern Philippines as part of the exercises has raised concerns about escalating tensions in the region and the growing risk of misjudgment and miscalculation among regional countries.