- The United States has begun building access to World War II-era military bases in the Pacific in 2023 as it prepares for a potential conflict with China.
- The United States has made “significant progress” toward returning Tinian Island's North Airfield, where the United States launched strategic bombers against Japan during World War II, Pacific Air Forces Commander Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach told Japan. told news media Nikkei.
- China's Ministry of Defense said on Thursday that the Asia-Pacific region should be on “high alert” as the United States expands its military footprint in the region, according to Reuters.
The United States has begun reviving major World War II-era military sites in the Pacific Ocean in 2023, amid a major shift in policy to prepare for a potential China conflict.
In early December, a US Air Force general said the US had made “significant progress” towards retaking Tinian North Airfield in the Mariana Islands, where the US launched strategic bombers against Japan during World War II. The Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported. report. The plan, which has not been officially announced by the Department of Defense (DOD), comes as the Pentagon pledges to deter China and, if necessary, confront threats to the United States. It reflects the trend of reallocation.
Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, commander of Pacific Air Forces, told Nikkei: “If we pay close attention in the coming months, we will see significant progress, especially in northern Tinian.”
The airfield is “a vast stretch of paved road beneath thick jungle. We plan to clear that jungle between now and the summer,” Wilsbach said, adding that once completed, the structure will be “extensive.” He added that it would happen, but did not say when. (Related article: US and China intensify tug-of-war over influence over lesser-known islands in the Pacific)
Access to the airfield will support the Air Force's strategy to disperse aircraft across the Indo-Pacific and ensure asset survivability against Chinese missile threats in a shift away from the Cold War posture, the Nikkei newspaper reported. Although the U.S. Army Air Corps abandoned the area after the war, the United States still claims territorial control of the Northern Mariana Islands.
“It poses targeting problems and may actually get some hits, but the force superiority is still producing the effect,” Wilsbach told the Nikkei newspaper.
Tinian Island is located 5,900 miles west of Hawaii and just 194 miles north of the U.S. territory of Guam.
Hard-fought victories over Japanese occupation forces on Tinian, Guam, and another island, Saipan, enabled the United States to carry out devastating bombing raids on mainland Japan with B-29 Superfortress bombers. , including the incendiary bombing of Tokyo on March 10, 1945, which resulted in numerous deaths. As 100,000 people, according to On CNN. On August 6, 1945, his B-29 took off from North Field on Tinian and dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, and three days later another of his planes bombed Nagasaki from Tinian. , marking the beginning of the nuclear age.
The United States is now focused on a new threat: China.
President Joe Biden said in his 2023 State of the Union address that the United States is in the “strongest position in decades” to counter the threat from China.
“Before I took office, the story was about how the People's Republic of China would rise in power and the United States would decline in the world,” Biden said. according to To the transcript of his remarks. “No more.”
China's Defense Ministry said Thursday the Asia-Pacific region should be on “high alert” as the United States expands its military footprint in the region following reports that the Pentagon plans to revive Tinian Island airfield. said. according to to Reuters.
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) will closely monitor US military activities while safeguarding China's maritime sovereignty and security in the region, the spokesperson said.
“The United States continues to strengthen its deployment in the Asia-Pacific, which is full of Cold War thinking,” Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Senior Colonel Wu Qian said on Thursday, according to Reuters. “Its purpose is to maintain its own selfish interests and hegemony. Its nature is to incite conflict.”
The Pentagon referred to previous statements to the Daily Caller News Foundation about the department's efforts “for peace, stability, and deterrence in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific region.”
Secretary Austin said it best at the Reagan National Defense Forum. In a decisive decade, 2023 was a decisive year for the implementation of the U.S. defense strategy in the Indo-Pacific.
And we plan to continue offering it in 2024. https://t.co/eq0EWy73Go
— Dr. Eli Ratner (@ASD_IndoPacific) December 27, 2023
In January, the Marines officially opened their first new base in 70 years, known as Camp Braz, on Guam, roughly equidistant between Japan and Taiwan, according to CNN. report. The base project began during the Obama administration as a way to relocate Marines from the Japanese island of Okinawa, where the Marines' presence had sparked local opposition.
“A sustained forward presence is key to the security and stability of the Indo-Pacific region. Marine Corps Base Camp Braz is a critical part of that. More than that, it is a shared commitment between us and the Japanese government. “It shows a strong relationship,” said Gen. David Berger, former commander of the Marine Corps. Said At the opening ceremony.
According to CNN, Braz will eventually become a training base for Marines aimed at defending allies, critical sea lanes and Pacific islands in case of a Chinese invasion.
Around the same time, the Marine Corps began reviewing its presence in Okinawa. Establish “Marine Coastal Regiment”, a small group of about 2,000 troops, Reuters report. The strategy calls for equipping the approximately 18,000 Marines deployed to Okinawa with missiles and drones, which will provide more agile reconnaissance and long-range reconnaissance against China's broader maritime threats. It is intended to provide strike capabilities and increase maneuverability if called upon to defend Taiwan from China. Intrusion.
According to Reuters, the U.S. military took control of Okinawa after World War II, but Washington returned it to Japan in 1972. U.S. Marine Corps units will be scattered across the island, marking the first time U.S. troops have returned since then.
On November 15, the Marine Corps redesignated the 12th Marine Regiment as the 12th Marine Coastal Regiment during a ceremony at Camp Hansen, Okinawa. according to Go to press release.The 12th MLR will be permanently stationed in Okinawa by 2025 and will break through the defenses. report.
Mabalacat, Philippines – August 17: U.S. and Philippine Air Forces conduct a U.S. Air Force C Preparing to load troops onto -130 aircraft. Mabalacat, Pampanga, Philippines. (Photo by Ezra Akayan/Getty Images)
And in January, the United States and the Philippines announced an agreement that allows China to strengthen its unrecognized territorial claims in the West Philippine Sea while allowing the United States to rotate troops to patrol additional military sites in the strategic region. , CNN announced. report. This is an arrangement based on 2014, agreementdoes not allow permanent U.S. military presence and gives the Pentagon access to Philippine bases for joint training, military construction, and prepositioning equipment.
In April, the Department of Defense announced that four locations were in operation: Camilo Osias Naval Base and Larro Airport in Cagayan province, Camp Melchor de la Cruz in Isabela province – both facing Taiwan, and Balabac Island off the coast of Palawan. revealed a new base. The Spratly Islands are claimed by China. according to to Reuters. Local opposition to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s decision to open the Philippines to the United States delayed the final announcement due to concerns that it would draw the Philippines into conflict with China.
According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the Philippines, which was a territory of the United States until the end of World War II, soon joined the United States after gaining independence, which lasted throughout the Cold War, after both countries worked to defeat Imperial Japan. concluded a mutual defense agreement. report. However, the Philippine Senate failed to renew the lease in 1992, resulting in the expulsion of U.S. troops.
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