US Seen Bolstering Military Links in Southeast Asia to Counter China

TAIPEI - U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is looking for ways to align multiple Asian countries behind the containment of rival superpower China, analysts said this week following Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s visit to the region.

Austin advocated during a speech Tuesday in Singapore for a reduction of China's military activity in Southeast Asia through "integrated deterrence." Austin also traveled to the Philippines and Vietnam during the weeklong trip. Integrated deterrence means using “every military and non-military tool in lock-step with allies and partners,” the U.S. Defense Department says on its website, citing space and cyberspace as two newer tools. Experts say Austin selected Vietnam and the Philippines because both have sparred with China during the past decade over contested sovereignty claims in the South China Sea. The U.S. contends China’s claims to own much of the sea have “no basis in international law.”