Latest news with #collectiveDefence
South China Morning Post
7 days ago
- General
- South China Morning Post
US-Japan-Australia-Philippines defence pact vs China? Ex-official urges alliance
Japan , A former senior US official has called for a formal Pacific collective defence pact among the United States Australia and the Philippines , framing it as a timely and necessary move to deter China's military ambitions. Advertisement But analysts warn that the proposal could inflame regional tensions and would face complex political and diplomatic challenges. Ely Ratner, who served as assistant secretary of defence for Indo-Pacific security affairs in former president Joe Biden 's administration, argued in a Foreign Affairs article published last week that Beijing was nearing the capability to reshape Asia by force. 'The time has come for the United States to build a collective defence pact in Asia,' he wrote. 'For decades, such a pact was neither possible nor necessary. Today, in the face of a growing threat from China, it is both viable and essential.' Beijing is intent on fulfilling President Xi Jinping 's vision of the 'great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation', according to Ratner – a project he says includes reunifying with Taiwan , dominating the South China Sea , and weakening US-led alliances to reshape the regional order. Advertisement 'If it succeeds,' he wrote, 'the result would be a China-led order that relegates the United States to the rank of a diminished continental power: less prosperous, less secure, and unable to fully access or lead the world's most important markets and technologies.'
South China Morning Post
07-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
It seems Donald Trump has just ended Nato with stance on force
Is this the end of Nato as we know it? Article 5 of the Nato constitution is a fundamental principle of collective defence, stating that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all members. Advertisement But what if one member threatens to attack one or two fellow member states? Well, US President Donald Trump has just done it, saying he won't rule out using force to annex Greenland and Canada. Does that mean other Nato member states will have to collectively fight the United States, or Article 5 goes up in smoke and it's every country for itself? Perhaps Canadians should count themselves lucky. While saying the prospect of attacking Ottawa appears 'highly unlikely', Greenland, a semi-autonomous island nominally owned by the Kingdom of Denmark, is a different question. 'I don't rule it out,' he said on Sunday. 'I don't say I'm going to do it, but I don't rule out anything. No, not there. We need Greenland very badly. Greenland is a very small amount of people, which we'll take care of, and we'll cherish them, and all of that. But we need that for international security.' Advertisement Since his return to the White House, Trump has widely broadcast his desire to turn Canada into America's 51st state and to acquire Greenland for its strategic location against Russia and China as well as rich mineral deposits.
