(Al Jazeera Media Network) United States allies in Asia are watching warily as Washington scales back military assets in the region to meet demands in the Middle East, where the US-Israel war on Iran is dragging into its sixth month.
The latest point of tension came this week as the US moved its last aircraft carrier in Asia – the USS George Washington – from Japan to the Middle East to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has been deployed for nine months.
Multiple reports had suggested that there were food shortages on the USS Abraham Lincoln, while broken toilets and showers contributed to unsanitary conditions and poor health. One sailor jumped off the vessel.
News of the USS George Washington’s move away from the Asia Pacific region follows reports earlier this year that the US had moved parts of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system from South Korea to use against Iran, as well as other reports that the US has drawn down its missile and munitions stockpiles to keep the war going.
Taken together, they dent US power projection in Asia and its ability to counter threats from China, said William Yang, senior analyst for Northeast Asia at the International Crisis Group.
“If we look at this as part of a larger trend … it certainly is creating an impact on the overall effectiveness of the US-led regional deterrence against China,” Yang said about the deployment of the USS George Washington.
While the last US aircraft carrier has left the area – for now – the Chinese fleet has increasingly ventured beyond the First Island Chain, which runs from north of Japan through Taiwan and the northern Philippines to Borneo.
The Cold War defensive line was originally designed to contain Beijing, but it has recently done little to keep China’s Liaoning and Shandong aircraft carriers from moving into the Western Pacific.
In another concerning development for US allies, Chinese coastguard activity has picked up since June in the waters east of Taiwan, which overlap with Japan’s and the Philippines’ exclusive economic zones, Yang said.
“These maritime operations are aimed at Taipei, aimed at Manila, aimed at Tokyo,” Yang told Al Jazeera. “Part of it is also testing the US reaction to these operations and the US capability to respond.”
