A 'Pacific Defense Pact' Is A Bad Idea

A new pact would destabilize East Asia and the Pacific.

Ely Ratner makes the case for a new formal anti-China alliance:

The time has come for the United States to build a collective defense pact in Asia. For decades, such a pact was neither possible nor necessary. Today, in the face of a growing threat from China, it is both viable and essential.

Neither the U.S. nor its regional allies need a new anti-China military alliance. If such an alliance could be created, it would ratchet up regional tensions and expose all of the alliance’s members to greater risks than they currently face. Creating such an alliance would confirm the Chinese government’s worst assumptions about U.S. intentions. The alliance would present itself as defensive, but its purpose would obviously be to hem China in and keep China down. The Chinese government would view this as a growing threat to its security and respond accordingly with a larger military buildup. A new pact would destabilize East Asia and the Pacific. The U.S. definitely doesn’t need that.