US military can’t ignore China and Russia’s Alaska flotilla
Washington Examiner
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The deployment of a Sino–Russian naval flotilla near Alaska last week underlines the growing threat those nations pose to America.
Eleven Russian and Chinese naval vessels sailed together near the Aleutian Islands. They were shadowed by four U.S. Navy destroyers. It is not publicly known if any Russian or Chinese submarines were there beneath the surface, and the U.S. Navy would probably not confirm it if there were. Still, Beijing and Moscow are clearly sending a stark message that they are cooperating as anti-American allies.
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Washington can’t afford to ignore the implications.
As the Chinese Communist Party’s Global Times propaganda newspaper wrote Monday, “The U.S. is nervous because the Bering Sea is close to Alaska. … While the China–Russia joint flotilla did not enter U.S. territorial waters, U.S. warships have on many occasions trespassed into Chinese territorial waters in the South China Sea.” The newspaper concluded, “The U.S. will only find out that its hegemony and authoritarian control over the world will face more and more questioning and challenges. The U.S. will have to get used to it sooner or later.”
China’s claim that U.S. warships “trespassed into Chinese territorial waters” is false and reflects Beijing’s ludicrous claim that it owns most of the South China Sea. When U.S. warships sail 12 miles off reefs 700 miles or more from China, Beijing accuses U.S. warships of trespassing. It’s silly stuff.
What’s not silly is that the People’s Liberation Army and the Russian armed forces are engaged in increasingly close cooperation. This is especially important at sea for, while the Russian army has demonstrated how weak it is in Ukraine, the Russian navy remains a capable and experienced force. Russian submarine and anti-submarine warfare capabilities and tactics are of great value to the PLA. That is why waters off Alaska are a key focus of recent collaborative training. Russia has decades of experience operating against American submarine forces, and the PLA prizes such knowledge as it prepares for a war over Taiwan.
Russia’s benefit from the deal is the broader challenge to the U.S. In addition, it gets Beijing’s generous diplomatic and economic support for its war of aggression in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has suffered diplomatic and political damage since launching the war, and he needs Chinese President Xi Jinping’s support more than ever.
The White House, Congress, and the U.S. military must more actively prepare for the possibility that Russia could fight alongside China over Taiwan or the South China Sea. Whether this is through direct intervention in Taiwan or by tying down the U.S. military in Europe, Putin could provide value to Xi. This requires more detailed U.S. military preparation and planning, particularly with NATO partners who would be needed to confront Russian threats to free U.S. forces for action in the western Pacific.
The Sino-Russian flotilla is also a reminder that now is no time for distractions from national security. Warped woke preoccupations at the military service academies are downright dangerous. Yet, as the Washington Examiner has repeatedly helped to disclose, DEI orthodoxy continues to gain ground from which it should be expelled. Midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis should be learning about close battle tactics for the PLA’s Type 055 destroyers and Russia’s Yasen-class submarines, not “reporting bias incidents for non-punitive informational purposes to proactively identify areas for potential additional training,” as they are asked to do.
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It is also crucial that taxpayer monies are spent effectively on needed military hardware. Where the PLA is churning out highly capable warships at breakneck speed, the U.S. Navy’s industrial base is beset by delay and skill shortages. Submarine construction delays are especially bad. Congress makes matters worse. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) recently passed an amendment to the Senate’s National Defense Authorization Act that would worsen materiel supply shortages. The amendment should be stripped in reconciliation negotiations with the House.
The key takeaway from China and Russia’s escalating military cooperation is the most obvious one — that it shows why the U.S. needs to be better prepared for conflict with both these powers, not just one. Contrary to the delusion of some, Moscow is not America’s friend. It is Beijing’s subordinate partner