From the deck of the USS Missouri in Pearl Harbor Wednesday, Defense Secretary Mark Esper made oblique references to China as the new threat to international order exactly 75 years after World War II in the Pacific ended with the Japanese signing of unconditional surrender aboard the battleship.
“We built relationships with like-minded nations based on reciprocal trade, not predatory economics, based on respect for the sovereignty of all countries, not a strategy of ‘might makes right,’” Esper said at the V-J Day ceremony honoring World War II veterans.
While refraining from mentioning China by name, Esper repeated language reserved for China on the last day of a Pacific swing that aimed to strengthen and build American alliances to contain Chinese aggression.
“Today, in the face of new challenges to this free and open order, we are working to build an even broader coalition of partners,” Esper said of the United States’s vital Pacific alliances with Japan, South Korea, and Australia.
The defense secretary also noted India, which has had recent border scuffles with China and took part in a joint naval exercise with the U.S. in July. Esper also referenced the Pacific island nations, which would provide vital access to the region for American troops in the event of a conflict with China.
“Growing, deepening, and unifying this network must remain central to our collective strategy to ensure peace and prosperity for another 75 years and beyond,” he said.
In the bay behind Esper were warships from Singapore, France, Brunei, and the Philippines, having recently participated in the Indo-Pacific Command’s Pacific Rim naval exercises.
INDOPACOM Commander Adm. Phil Davidson, who spoke before Esper, was blunt in naming China as the new threat to peace in the Pacific.
“An emboldened Communist Party of China seeks to change the world to one in which Chinese national power is more important than international law,” Davidson said to a small, socially distanced group of World War II veterans.
“Beijing is using a whole-of-party approach to coerce, to corrupt, and to contest the rules-based international order,” he added. “As we address the strategic threat of China and the other security challenges throughout the Indo-Pacific region, the memory of our greatest generation lives on.”
Throughout the summer, the U.S. and its allies practiced multicarrier exercises in the Pacific as Chinese ships and aircraft looked on.
Last week, China conducted a test of anti-ship ballistic missiles at the disputed Paracel Islands, an event condemned by the Pentagon.
In its own sign of force, the PACRIM exercises concluded with a missile barrage of a decommissioned ship conducted by the U.S. and participating nations.
With Esper setting foot on island nations such as Palau, which has never before hosted an American cabinet secretary, his message rang clear.
“We welcome every nation, especially those that have benefited the most from today’s international system, to join us in this effort,” he said.
