"South Korea-US-Japan 'Deterrence' vs China 'Provocation'... China's Hostility Likely to Grow"

South Korea, the United States, and Japan agreed to strengthen security cooperation at the Camp David summit on the 18th (local time), while the American daily The New York Times (NYT) reported that this summit could heighten China's wariness of the so-called 'Asian NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)'.

The NYT published an article titled "A Defense Agreement That Could Deepen China's Rancor," stating, "What South Korea, the U.S., and Japan call deterrence, China defines as encirclement and even provocation," forecasting such an outcome.

The 'Commitment to Consultations among South Korea, the U.S., and Japan' resulting from the summit includes rapid consultations, information sharing, message synchronization, and coordinated responses among the three countries in crisis situations. However, it does not reach the level of a mutual defense treaty or collective defense treaty that considers an attack on an ally as an attack on oneself and retaliates accordingly. Jake Sullivan, U.S. National Security Advisor, also told reporters before the South Korea-U.S.-Japan summit, "This is clearly not a 'Pacific NATO,'" explaining, "What we want to do is establish safeguards to enhance regional security and help the economic development of countries in the region, including China." He also said, "This meeting was not aimed at any specific country."

President Yoon Suk-yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are taking a commemorative photo in front of the presidential residence 'Aspen' after concluding the trilateral summit held at Camp David, the U.S. presidential retreat near Washington DC, on the 18th (local time). [Joint Coverage] [Image Source=Yonhap News]

However, in a situation where the Ukraine war has brought NATO closer, the NYT assessed that the agreement among the South Korea-U.S.-Japan leaders has deepened China's concerns about a 'mini NATO' in Asia. Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert interviewed by the NYT, said, "Now China will closely watch signs of the U.S. expanding alliances by bringing in other countries like the Philippines," adding that this would become an 'Indo-Pacific NATO,' which would be the 'worst-case scenario' for China.

The NYT also introduced signs that China has already begun to act on its opposition to this South Korea-U.S.-Japan summit. According to Japan's Joint Staff Office (equivalent to the Joint Chiefs of Staff), six Chinese vessels and five Russian vessels sailed northwest through the waters between Okinawa Island and Miyakojima on the 17th, heading toward the East China Sea, and the next day, two Russian patrol aircraft flew between the East Sea and the East China Sea.

Additionally, on the 19th, immediately after the South Korea-U.S.-Japan summit, a total of 42 military aircraft of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, including KJ-500 early warning aircraft, Y-9 electronic warfare aircraft, J-10, J-11, J-16, Su-30 fighter jets, and Z-9 anti-submarine helicopters, conducted a 'show of force' over the waters near Taiwan.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.