{"id":33016,"date":"2020-10-01T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-01T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/10\/01\/america-must-build-a-coalition-to-counter-chinas-accelerating-aggression\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:39:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:39:25","slug":"america-must-build-a-coalition-to-counter-chinas-accelerating-aggression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/commentary\/2020\/10\/01\/america-must-build-a-coalition-to-counter-chinas-accelerating-aggression\/","title":{"rendered":"America must build a coalition to counter China\u2019s accelerating aggression"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

China has been successfully exploiting the disarray caused by COVID-19 to coerce neighbors, project power, and expand its global influence. There must be a coordinated global response to China\u2019s accelerated aggression, lest Beijing become even more emboldened, further threatening the security of countries in the region<\/a> and the international system as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China\u2019s Belt Road Initiative (BRI) investments already give them unfettered access and leverage with a host of developing countries desperate for funding and infrastructure development. Many of those countries are run by corrupt authoritarians that prop up their own regimes by skimming off funds provided by China, thus perpetuating China\u2019s preferred authoritarian model of government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Countering the BRI related economic coercion alone would require significant coordination among the remaining G6, but unfortunately the economic coercion has coincided with increased military, diplomatic, and disinformation campaigns designed to take advantage of the chaos and current international leadership vacuum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China\u2019s fortification of islands<\/a> in the South China Sea is as ominous, though more subtle, as their imposition of a \u201cNational Security Law\u201d on Hong Kong. The island bases give them the ability to project force further South, engage naval and air forces at a distance from the mainland, and expand their naval harassment of civilian and military vessels operating in international waters. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo\u2019s recent statement<\/a> shows that the United States is correctly concerned, but that must translate into more cooperation and support given to the countries in the Indo-Pacific region that are on the front-lines against Chinese aggression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China benefits from unilateral engagement with other countries because of its military, political, and economic heft. To combat that, the U.S. should embrace a multilateral approach, encompassing eight key political forces: Australia, ASEAN, Canada, India, Japan, Korea, the U.K., and the E.U.<\/p>\n\n\n\t