The website of Los Angeles Times published an article on June 10 saying that some Asian allies of US had rejected its plan to deploy intermediate-range missiles on their territories. Countries across the world have paid close attention to America's development and deployment of intermediate-range missiles after it withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) as that will undoubtedly have a profound impact on the security situation of relevant regions.

Washington has hinted at its wish to deploy intermediate-range missiles in the Asia Pacific soon after it exited the INF Treaty. Following US official withdrawal from the treaty on August 2, 2019, Defense Secretary Mark Esper told the accompanying reporters the next day on the flight to Australia for a diplomatic and defense meeting that the US would deploy the newly developed land-based intermediate-range missiles in Asia without giving details on the time and location of deployment.

With the change of America’s military strategy, some senior officials in the country viewed the deployment of intermediate-range missiles as an effective approach to the major-power military rivalry in the Asian region. “Putting hundreds of American missiles with non-nuclear warheads in Asia would quickly and cheaply shift the balance of power in the western Pacific back in the United States' favor.”

David L.Norquist, the Pentagon’s comptroller and chief financial officer, testified to the Senate that the US would develop intermediate-range missiles, which are suitable for the West Pacific region, and deploy them in the Asia Pacific. As the core of Washington’s military enhancement in Asia in the next decade, the plan is expected to cost tens of billions of dollars of the defense budget.

In the technical terms, the intermediate-range missile is considered the most dangerous for its close range, short flight duration, little time for detection and defense, and great difficulty in interception, as well as its ability to carry multiple nuclear warheads as needed. For Washington, deploying such missiles in countries around its rival is much more cost-effective, both in terms of production and deployment, than shooting the intercontinental ballistic missiles with a range of 10,000 km.

That’s why the US military has been testing several new short-range and medium-range missiles, including the ballistic missile that could be deployed in Guam and the mobile missile that could be mounted on a truck. Days after it withdrew from the INF Treaty, the US successfully test-launched a land-based cruise missile from a mobile launching device. It is learned that the US is developing two kinds of medium-range missiles, one is a regular low-altitude cruise missile with the range of about 1,000km that may be deployed in 18 months, and the other a ballistic missile with the range of 3,000-4,000km that can carry hypersonic warheads but won’t be deployed for another five years or longer.

However, its Asian allies didn’t seem “enthusiastic” about such a plan. The US Secretary of Defense Esper visited Japan, ROK, Australia, and the Philippines after the US left the INF treaty to find out their stance on the issue, with Tokyo being the main target. Washington found it necessary to address the obvious imbalance since Japan, as its major ally, hasn’t deployed an intermediate-range missile so far. In response, Japanese government displayed ambiguity to the idea, while the public responded clearly and strongly. Mainichi Shimbun published an editorial asserting that America’s missile deployment in Japan will give a boost to an arms race, which is very dangerous for Japan, who is standing at the forefront. Besides, the deployment would be against Japan’s basic guidelines of pursuing the “exclusively defense-oriented” strategy and it is hard for the public in Japan to accept such deployment.

The ROK was extremely cautious about the deployment as that would significantly affect its relation with China and Russia, and even worsen its relation with DPRK. Choi Hyun-soo, spokesperson of the ROK defense ministry, said Seoul had no plan to deploy American medium-range missiles on its soil. The Korea JoongAng Daily also reported that once the missiles were deployed in the country, it might trigger a more severe confrontation with China than that during the THAAD incident in 2017 as the medium range of thousands of kilometers poses a graver threat than the THAAD anti-missile system.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison denied receiving such a proposal from the US and rebuffed the option directly, not to mention that putting medium-range missiles in Australia wouldn’t be of much use since the country is too far away from China. Rodrigo Duterte, President of the Philippines, made his position clear in August 2019 by saying that he wouldn’t allow Washington to deploy the missile or any nuclear weapon in his country. “That will never happen,” said the president.

Moscow expressed strong opposition to Washington’s provocation as well. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at the ministry’s annual meeting in December 2019 that after the US pulled out of the INF Treaty, Pentagon has been enhancing its strike capabilities and largely shortened the time for combat preparedness. Given this, President Putin believed Russia must monitor the possibility of America deploying this kind of missile (medium-range missile) around the world, primarily in Europe and the Asia Pacific.

When evaluating the consequences of America’s test launch of the new intermediate-range missile, Alexey Pushkov, a member of the Federation Council Committee, pointed out that the US would render its European allies a “dark prospect” and bring the continent back to the state of nuclear confrontation of the Cold War period if it deployed these tested missiles on their soil. His evaluation holds water for the Asian allies too.

Fu Cong, director-general of the Department of Arms Control of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, said China is deeply concerned about the US announcement to test and deploy land-based intermediate-range missiles, especially certain senior officials claiming to deploy the missiles in the Asia-Pacific region “as soon as possible.” China would not sit idle but would be forced to take countermeasures should the deployment be materialized. China also called upon countries in the region to not allow the US to deploy the missile in regional countries as that in no way served their security interests.

Disclaimer: This article is originally published on zqb.cyol.com, and is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.