Ronan Wordsworth
Much has been made of the U.S.’ efforts to contain China. Central to its strategy is the first island chain, a line of islands comprising the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan that naturally obstruct China’s access to the open seas. And now that Washington is increasingly confident in South Korea and Japan’s ability to manage the first chain, it is increasingly eager to focus on a second island chain, one to be managed by Australia. Australia has been a partner of Washington’s for years, and recent events, including the progression of the AUKUS security alignment, show that it will likely become a recipient of massive amounts of U.S. defense spending in the coming years.
Alliance Building
The first island chain acts as the vanguard in the U.S.-led security alliance in the region. As such, it has to be able to withstand and prevent a direct attack from mainland China. This is why Washington has worked extensively over the past two years to strengthen its strategic alliances in the Indo-Pacific region, signing trilateral security agreements with Japan and South Korea and with Japan and the Philippines. (The Philippines was once more open to balancing against China and the U.S., but having bristled under Chinese coercion in the South China Sea, it has shown a greater willingness to work with the U.S.)
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