BEIJING (Agencies): In a first for East Asia, the US is bolstering its China information monitoring network among allies and partners by deploying an official to Tokyo specifically for this purpose. This move is the latest in the US’s strategy to consider China as its most significant strategic competitor, according to Chinese analysts.
These analysts warn that the US’s deployment aims not only to facilitate intelligence collection on China but also to exert more effective control over its ally system. This raises concerns that the China-focused information network could disrupt the usual economic, political, and security relations between China and these US allies. They condemn the US’s intentions to sow division and conflict in the Asia-Pacific region by portraying China as an adversary.
Kyodo News, a Japanese media outlet, reported on Saturday that the Joe Biden administration plans to deploy an official to the US Embassy in Tokyo in July. This official will be dedicated to monitoring Chinese governmental and business activities.
The monitoring officers that the US deploys to its allies are tasked with collecting and analyzing information about China’s influence in the region or country where they are based. In addition to monitoring China’s actions, the official will also be responsible for promoting the establishment of supply chains for semiconductors and other essential goods that are independent of China.
Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Sunday that given Japan’s status as the most trusted or most controllable US ally in the Asia-Pacific region, US officials in Tokyo tasked with monitoring China are likely to be involved in various fields of intelligence work related to security, economic, and political aspects in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Northeast Asia.
Li said that sending such an official to East Asia could enable the US to coordinate China-related information collection and use such information more quickly and effectively. The dispatch is part of the Biden administration’s efforts to strengthen intelligence gathering, as reported by Kyodo.
The US Department of State has already added about 20 similar officials in charge of monitoring China to US embassies in other capitals, including Bangkok, Brussels, Rome, and Sydney, according to media reports.
Li believes that the US’s goal is to eliminate Chinese elements from all production and supply chains, all security institutional frameworks, and all influential economic structures dominated by the US. By placing these officials in its allied countries, the US can disrupt the normal economic, political, and security relations between China and these US allies, and instigate more crises and even possible conflicts in the region, Li warned. He cautioned that this will undoubtedly exert significant pressure on the China policies of its allies.
Li warned that the more these countries rely on the US, the more their fate will resemble that of Ukraine, which is deeply mired in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
To cope with the latest US move, Li noted that China needs to continue to strengthen cooperation and coordination with those US allies, especially in the economic sphere.