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US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (Reuters/Yonhap News)

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced plans Saturday for stronger alliances against China, but stressed that the US is not attempting to achieve an “Asian version” of NATO or an “anti-China coalition.”

In a speech Saturday at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, Austin said that the US would encourage its Pacific allies and US businesses to work to respond to the growing military and technological threats posed by China.

“The United States of America has an advantage that no autocracy can match — our combination of free enterprise, free minds, and free people,” he said.

“[W]hen we maintain our technological edge, we maintain our military edge,” he also noted.

While he highlighted the current rivalry with China, he also stated that Washington is not attempting to force its allies to pick sides between the US and China.

“No, we’re not seeking an Asian version of NATO or trying to build an anti-China coalition. And we’re not asking countries to choose between the United States and China,” he said.

Instead, he stressed that the US intended to increase its cooperation with allies, giving the example of plans to support Australia’s acquisition of a nuclear-powered submarine in order to rein in China. In September, US President Joe Biden announced the formation of AUKUS, a security pact among the US, Australia and the UK.

Austin’s remarks read as sending the message that instead of bringing together Indo-Pacific allies under a single organization championing an “anti-China” stance, the US means to compete with China through stronger cooperation with individual countries and through frameworks such as AUKUS, the Quad (the US, Japan, India, and Australia), the Five Eyes (an intelligence alliance among the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand), and trilateral coordination with South Korea and Japan.

By Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent

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