The growing threat of China to India and the entire South-China Sea and Indo-Pacific region is one of the reasons why the United States of America (USA) is pulling its troops from Europe and sending it to the region, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo revealed on Thursday at the Brussels Forum virtual conference.
Pompeo was asked why the Trump administration had reduced the number of troops in Germany, one of its key-NATO ally. The Secretary of State in response said that if US troops were no longer there, it was because they were being moved to face other places.
“The actions of the Chinese Communist Party meant there were “threats to India” and countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and the South China Sea. The US military is “postured appropriately” to meet these “challenges of our time”, said Mike Pompeo.
BIG: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at Brussels Forum when asked why US reduced troops in Germany: Actions of Chinese Communist Party meant threats to India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, South China Sea. US military postured appropriately to meet the challenges. pic.twitter.com/BIs3cnWSnl
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) June 25, 2020
China and its aggressive and expansionist attitude has created tensions in the South East Asian region and its impact across the world is being felt.
Mike Pompeo earlier had referenced the incident along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Galwan valley of Eastern Ladakh and condemned China.
“The PLA has escalated border tensions – we see it today in India, the world’s most popular – populous democracy. And we watch as it militarizes the South China Sea and illegally claims more territory there, threatening vital sea lanes, a promise they broke again,” Pompeo had said.
.@SecPompeo delivered the keynote address at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit 2020. pic.twitter.com/Tb0LNdoFXo
— Department of State (@StateDept) June 19, 2020
Consequently Pompeo’s statement of moving the troops to this region sends a clear message to three major global entities viz. Europe, India and China.
Message to Europe
The message to Europe and especially countries like Germany is crystal clear. Accept that Russia is no longer a threat and come up with stringent, clear and well-formulated China policies.
The new villain in the modern 21st century globalized world is none other than the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) led by its shrewd President, Xi Jinping.
Since the outbreak of the Coronavirus, most of the countries have chosen a side. However, the European Union has remained confused, shuttling between pro-China stance of the executive and anti-China stance of its legislature.
Merkel had refused to join the G7 group and being the de-facto leader of the European Union, its support of China has come as a shocker to the political pundits across India and USA.
“It is impossible to put our relationship with China into a single box; it is too complex,” the foreign minister of European Union, Josep Borrell, said a few weeks ago.
Miffed by Merkel and her policies of not honouring the commitments of being a NATO member, Trump pulled the plug from Germany.
As per a report by the Wall Street Journal, Trump administration has decided to cut the number of American troops in Germany, by 25 percent. Currently, 34,500 American soldiers are stationed in Germany, second largest after Japan, and Trump has decided to cut 9,500 soldiers from duty in the European country.
However Pompeo’s revelation that US took out troops to use them in the other hemisphere of the world should be enough to send the message to Merkel and co. that siding with China might be a political suicide.
Message to India
South block understands that despite the USA in its fold in countering the Chinese hegemony, it cannot trust it fully, as of yet. Historically India has always been prepared for the worst eventuality and that is in case of any war like situation, New Delhi will be reliant on itself.
However, with the Indo-US relations steadily on an upswing in the last decade, the US under President Donald Trump is looking to show its allegiances to India to earn its trust, even more so than ever.
Although India has not asked for any help but the US is eager to prove its salt. Therefore, the US is putting its money where its mouth is by taking an aggressive stance against China in the Southeast Asia region.
Pompeo’s statements send a message that India is right up there in the US’s foreign policy and anything that encroaches upon its freedom will be deemed as an enemy of the state.
Message to China
Mike Pompeo is China’s Achilles heel and he is on a mission to completely topple the Communist regime of China. With the backing of Trump, Pompeo minces no words and that’s why he unflinchingly named CCP and the threat it poses to the security of the region.
US is indeed touching China’s weak spots. Beijing is so rattled by the US and with Pompeo in particular that it recently unleashed its bot army on twitter to target him. However, no love has been lost from Pompeo’s side who is more than ever, raring to go against China and its contemptible policies.
