Americans accusing China of ‘debt-trap diplomacy’
China is allegedly buying political influence in the Pacific through a soft power campaign of debt-trap diplomacy and “economic blackmail”, say senior United States military leaders, who add New Zealand is a key player in maintaining a “free and open” region.
The major identified threats to Pacific peace and security were highlighted by high-level military officers across the US Army, Navy and Air Force in a series of remarkably candid briefings with visiting Kiwi journalists at the US IndoPacific Command (Indopacom) base in Honolulu.
The US fears the People’s Republic of China has closed the gap in military capacity in recent years, forcing the US to recruit allies — countries with a “shared set of values” — to keep up with Beijing.
Its military accuses the communist Government of attempting “debt-trap diplomacy” by “air-dropping” billions of dollars into Pacific economies to gain political advantages in the geographically vast and critical area, repeatedly citing the example of the Hambantota port deal in Sri Lanka.
It all forms part of what the US believes is China’s longterm goal of trying to delegitimise America’s sphere of influence in the Pacific.
“This is the new game on the block. This is a new phenomenon in the Pacific,” says Indopacom’s acting chief of staff, Major-General Suzanne Vares-Lum, a former US spy chief during the Iraq War.
It was clear from the briefings that the US will start to depend on NZ to do more work in a region stretching “from Hollywood to Bollywood and from polar bears to penguins”.
In a briefing at the US Pacific Air Forces (Pacaf) headquarters, the Pacific — home to five of the world’s eight nuclear
This is the new game on the block. This is a new phenomenon in the Pacific.
Suzanne Vares-Lum Indopacom acting chief of staff
powers and 75 per cent of the largest missile arsenals — has seen a “return of great-power competition”.
China poses the greatest long-term and immediate threats, it said, with its idea of a new international order clashing with the US vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific.
Pacaf admits the US military advantage has “eroded” in recent years and now faces “a contest for air superiority”.
It needs to “rethink how we think about the Indo-Pacific theatre” and strengthen alliances and recruit new partners to “enhance lethality and inter-operability”.
The US also suspects China has been able to increase its military capabilities though “cyber-incursions”, although it’s understood they don’t have any evidence of specific examples, and don’t know whether software, hardware, satellites or undersea cables have been targeted.
Air Force Colonel Dan Munter believes NZ is important in helping to contribute to the “rules-based international order” and welcomed the recent upgrade of NZ’s ageing Orion aircraft to four high-tech Boeing P-8A Poseidon sea patrol planes more compatible with the US air fleet.
It’s understood the US Navy also eagerly awaits the return of the Royal New Zealand Navy’s two Anzac-class frigates, HMNZS Te Kaha and HMNZS Te Mana, now having combat management system upgrades in Victoria, Canada.
Vares-Lum said a wellrespected New Zealand has “a lot of ability to influence” in Oceania and the South Pacific, while heaping praise on the Defence Force for “punching above its weight class” in policing of illegal fishing and illicit trafficking of goods and people. “We really appreciate the partnership with New Zealand,” she said.
Vares-Lum also welcomed opportunities for joint military training exercises and disaster relief operations, and information and intelligence sharing.
All of the military sources spoken to by the Herald stressed the US simply wanted a “free and open” Pacific, not just for themselves but for all “like-minded” countries.
Its own “soft power” strategies include education, partnering to bolster smaller nations’ security forces, economic development and investment, and the deployment of US Peace Corps.
One senior leader said the US Strategic Engagement Plan, which looks to strengthen its ties with allies, is the “opposite of blackmail” and provides a holistic “here to help” approach.
Other threats to the Pacific, according to the US military, include Russia, which continues to act as a “spoiler” in the region for America, with increasing long-range bomber flights, along with North Korea, Iran, terrorism, and climate change.
“We want to maintain a strong defence so that we never have to use it,” VaresLum said.
“It is essential in maintaining peace and security.”