Recent U.S. military operations near China were part of a broader defense strategy focused on “deterrence by denial” along the First Island Chain, which runs from Japan through Taiwan to the Philippines, Chosun Ilbo reports, citing Elbridge Colby’s comments in Seoul last month that the chain is central to U.S. strategy in the Indo-Pacific.
On Feb. 18, four U.S. B-52 bombers flew from Guam and conducted exercises over the East China Sea, from south of Jeju Island toward Taiwan, before moving north into the West Sea. This drill was originally planned as a trilateral exercise with South Korea and Japan, but Seoul declined to participate.
At the same time, U.S. Forces Korea carried out separate exercises from Feb. 18-19, with dozens of F-16s flying more than 100 sorties. The simultaneous deployment of U.S. bombers, Japanese forces, and U.S. fighters within the First Island Chain marked an unusually large-scale and coordinated show of force.
Chinese aircraft scrambled in response, leading to a direct encounter between U.S. and Chinese fighters in the West Sea. The exercise area and messaging emphasized countering “unilateral changes to the status quo by force,” language commonly used by the U.S. and Japan to refer to China’s regional territorial claims and Taiwan.
From this, one might infer that the Trump Administration is retooling U.S. Forces Korea to aim it more at China and less at North Korea, and that Seoul wants to reduce tensions with both North Korea and China and therefore wants nothing to do with the U.S. strategy.
