Commentary: U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy counterproductive to regional peace, destined to fail

Photo taken on Oct. 28, 2021 shows the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

Stirring up trouble after trouble, Washington is anything but a responsible constructor or protector in the Asia-Pacific, and its intention to contain China in the region may be a sort of testament to Gresham's law -- since its bad morals are trying to drive out good.

BEIJING, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- The White House's newly-released Indo-Pacific Strategy is another attempt to escalate bloc confrontation in the region under the pretext of advancing a "free and open Indo-Pacific," though its efforts against the trend of peace and cooperation are destined for failure.

The document owned that the United States and much of the world have viewed Asia too narrowly as an arena of geopolitical competition, and the country will strengthen its own role and "focus on every corner of the region." In fact, its primary target is just to besiege and counter China, and is entirely unrelated to promoting regional peace and development.

Calling for strengthening Indo-Pacific security and prosperity, Washington promised to foster security ties between its allies and partners and work in flexible groupings.

But its emphasis on such exclusive blocs as AUKUS consisting of the United States, Britain and Australia, and Quad involving the United States, Japan, India and Australia, its deployment of deterrence tools as well as unilateral sanctions to settle regional security issues, and its intrigue to spoil the existing cooperation mechanisms with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the center have shown the superpower's hypocrisy.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Japan's Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi (from L to R) pose for a photo prior to the Japan-U.S. Security Consultative Committee meeting in Tokyo, Japan, March 16, 2021. (Kiyoshi Ota/Pool via Xinhua)

Beneath the strategy lies Washington's outdated mentality of Cold War and bloc politics, which will harm the long-term and common interests of the countries in the region.

As the world needs dialogue and cooperation now more than ever to promote common development, the narratives of "China threat" and an anti-China united front are counterproductive. No wonder Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper cast doubt over the effect of the strategy in an article published Sunday.

From former U.S. President Barack Obama's "Rebalance to Asia and the Pacific" and Donald Trump's "Free and Open Indo-Pacific" policy, to the 2019 Department of Defense Indo-Pacific Strategy Report, the United States has never forgotten to increase its investment and presence in the region, but a country addicted to causing rifts and provoking a "great power competition" can hardly win true partners.

Stirring up trouble after trouble, Washington is anything but a responsible constructor or protector in the Asia-Pacific, and its intention to contain China in the region may be a sort of testament to Gresham's law -- since its bad morals are trying to drive out good.

People walk out of the venue of the 18th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sept. 13, 2021. (Xinhua/Lu Boan)

As a main trading partner of most countries in the region, China has always acted in a responsible and constructive manner when tackling regional issues and cooperating with others. It is not only the first major country to join the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia and establish a strategic partnership with ASEAN, but also the leading force in ratifying the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and advancing common development.

Keenly aware that its interests hinge on regional peace and stability, China has actively mediated hotspot issues and has made great contributions to the improvement of the situation in Afghanistan and Myanmar.

The shared interests of the Asia-Pacific, home to more than half of the world's population, should never be used as a bargaining chip for individual countries and cliques to seek geopolitical gains. Addressing the challenges of the times, including the COVID-19 pandemic, a choppy economic recovery, fragile supply chains and social unrest in some parts of the region, requires solidarity and cooperation.

Meanwhile, the West, particularly Washington, is urged to stop fanning the flames of conflict, respect the will of other countries and their people, and make a positive contribution to regional stability and development. Up until now, regretfully, it has done none of these things.