Similar to comedy, military operations require timing. To Russia and China, their timing for the latest joint exercise in the form of “no limit” partners seemed to be the best fit when their neighbors are involved in a conflict. Thus, they flew bombers as President Biden went to Southeast Asia along with the leaders from South Korea and Japan as they hosted the president. Other nations attended the meeting as well.
More commonly referred to as the Quad alliance, Biden met in Tokyo with the leaders of Australia, India, and Japan. The alliance was created to fight China and Russia. Although many think that the four nations aren't allies, their dependence on South Korea and Taiwan means they are all at risk from increased Chinese presence as well as North Korean aggression.
Naturally, this type of gathering sparked the exercise of training, as bombers and planes also entered the air-identification zones in South Korea and Japan. While they were taking care of the air and sea to stay out of their airspaces, the Russian and Chinese agencies walked the lines with care and sent an intentional message to the countries that were present.
The defense minister of Japan, Nobuo Kishi, spoke to the media on the subject of the exercises. “We consider the military drill that took place during the summit summit between Japan and India, the United States, Australia, and India as a plan to demonstrate the force of Japan as host of the summit. Additionally, the fact that the exercise was conducted within the context of the Quad summit is considered to be more provocative than any other exercises that have been conducted that have been conducted in the past.”
Kishi added “when we as a global community respond to Russia's incursion into Ukraine, China is acting in concert along with aggressor Russia. We are worried about this and can't ignore it.”
Naturally, it's true. There is every reason to be worried, and they must respond in a manner that is appropriate, and they did. With Biden's opening remarks, it set the tone for the meeting.
In his address to the crowd, Biden said “I was once asked by the leader of China why I kept talking about being an Indo-Pacific power,” Biden explained. “And I replied, because our shared space is the Pacific — an entire part of our country. We have been very involved with you all for quite a while.”
It's a surprising moment of clarity that the President seldom gets. The relationship that exists between the U.S. and other nations in the Pacific is extremely important.
Due to the closeness to Russia with the outlying Alaskan islands and also the trade that occurs between the U.S. and many of the nations in the region, it is imperative to establish a strong partnership to ensure that products and services remain exchanged between our countries. The American populace has become quite attracted to their technological advances and quick-to-market goods. Similar to the way U.S. education buying power, education, and culture is a major export to many nations in the Pacific.
Thankfully, the drills were simply that – drills. There was no agitation to the point of turning violent or necessitating intervention from outside. It was just a bit of pleading and an organized move carried out to prove that they did it. The frightened countries from China and Russia attempted to show how powerful they were through these exercises but they only showed the foolishness of the leaders of both countries. In particular Putin, considering that Russia is already in a state of ruin due to Ukraine.
