So China is getting aggressive in a military sense, this is driven by the philosophy of President Xi Jinping. There are many nervous nations in east and southeast Asia that are feeling threatened by not only Chinese diplomatic communications, but actions.

There is the island building in the contested waters of the South China Sea, the crack-down in Hong Kong and the threats to Taiwan. China is flanked on it’s south western border by India, western border by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Further south there is Vietnam, Laos and Burma. North Korea provides a buffer to both South Korea and Japan where there are US bases in both those countries along with the Philippines and Guam. Further afield there is Hawaii, Midway Island, Deigo Garcia and a joint Australian/American marine base in Darwin. To the north of China is the vast country of Russia, an ally and nation with similar interests.

Whilst Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has been staunchly anti-US due to his personal preferences, he has finally worked out Xi Jinping is playing him for a fool and beginning to seek US protection again. Any idiot knows you don’t allow personal preferences to influence international diplomacy, he is not that bright. Playing Rodrigo Duterte for a fool is a pretty easy game, this isn’t much of a scam, he is pretty much an easy target. The US has also been invited to build a base on the island nation of Palau, whilst still not out of the reach of Chinese missiles, there is also an option of a base on the Cocos Islands and Learmonth air base can be upgraded.

At this point, I don’t think there is that much hope for Hong Kong, there will be some diplomatic pressure but the CCP will dismiss this as internal affairs. Taiwan is a whole other issue, all regional powers need to stand up to CCP provocation to make it abundantly clear this aggression will not be tolerated. This is the likely flash point, Taiwan will defend itself, what is unsure is how good the Taiwanese defence will be, this will draw in allies from all around the Pacific and possibly Europe.

To send a clear and concise message to the CCP, like minded nations need to increase their presence in the South China Sea and Western Pacific. This includes NATO, we need German, French and British influence in the region to make a statement. Bolstering US bases in the region is necessary with NATO and democratic nations operating out of these bases. This will send a clear message to CCP powerbrokers, any attacks on US bases in the region is an attack on democratic nations and they will respond.