US Seeks Formal NATO-Style Alliance Against China

Tensions between the US and China keep worsening, and with a danger of military confrontation, the US is looking to assemble a formal anti-China alliance, hoping to model it after NATO. The US envisions the alliance to include Australia, Japan, and India.

Meetings are expected in the Fall, in Delhi, with the US playing them up as a “challenge to China” in the region. The US clearly has an interest in building anti-China coalitions, spending as much time as they do complaining about China.

But other than India, which has had some recent border clashes with China, it’s not clear how good of a fit these nations are, beyond the US picking Japan and Australia as wealthy nations that could afford to spend on their militaries.

Trade with China is important for Australia, and they likely will be wary of any deal that risks that. Japan has territorial disputes with China, but has limited military assets to contribute, and there remains opposition to real militarization there.