NATO-style security alliance unlikely in Asia's near future

Former general Gert Bastian speaking. The 2nd " Krefelder Forum" (Krefelder Appeal) on 21 November 1981 in the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund (Germany). In 1980 the forum initiated the Krefelder Appeal against the NATO Double-Track Decision.[Photo/IC]

The United States is intensifying its efforts to forge an Asian version of NATO with its allies, which poses a grave security threat to China. Beijing Youth Daily commented on Monday:

The concept of an "Asian NATO" was not created out of thin air. It could be part of the US' rebalancing to Asia strategy.

Some see it as a bid for a collective defense mechanism by Asia-Pacific nations exercising US-style democratic values, ranging from the US and Canada in North America, to Japan in Asia and some Middle East powers. They say that it will not be targeted at any third party and is for collective defense in the event that a member is attacked.

Others think otherwise, but say the alliance is not going to take shape any time soon due to the lack of unity among regional countries. After all, its strategic focus on containing Beijing is self-evident, and will face strong opposition from China and other countries close to it.

However, some argue that countries such as Japan are worried about China's robust rise and will eventually join a US-led alliance system aimed at containing Beijing.

It is indeed a worrying fact that some of them have started to do so. Back in 2007, Japan and Australia signed a joint security declaration, which they said does not target any third country but which in reality does. The constantly revised Guidelines for Japan-US Defense Cooperation, too, reveal a closer Japan-US military alliance and its intention to contain the rise of China. That, to some extent, explains the increasing political and military exchanges among the US, Japan, and the Philippines.

But an Asian version of NATO goes against the trend of global and regional integration and thus is unlikely to come into being in the near future.

Especially as Washington is not overtly ready to forge a NATO-like collective defense group in the Asia-Pacific region, and most countries in the region still prefer bilateral security deals to collective security commitments.