The U.S. military will reinforce deployments and bases directed at China and Russia, while maintaining forces in the West Asia adequate to deter Iran and jihadist groups, the Pentagon said on Monday, referencing results of a review.
The U.S. Defense Department will be upgrading and expanding military facilities in Guam and Australia, underscoring its focus on China as the country’s leading defence rival, officials said.
The details of the “global posture review,” commissioned by President Joe Biden’s government early this year, would remain classified, the officials added, so as not to reveal plans to rivals.
The move comes in the wake of the formation of a new defence alliance between the U.S., Britain and Australia — dubbed AUKUS — to counter a rising China, which has been building up its own navy and testing decades of U.S. military dominance across Asia.
That pact was formed as Beijing solidifies its control over the disputed South China Sea and intensifies its military threats towards Taiwan, of which the U.S. is a key ally and arms supplier.
The review confirmed the priority region for the U.S. military was the Indo-Pacific, said Mara Karlin, a top Pentagon policy official.
The review “directs additional cooperation with allies and partners across the region to advance initiatives that contribute to deter potential military aggression from China and threats from North Korea,” she said.