The United States has already long been engaged heavily into two war zones it can’t control – namely Ukraine and Gaza – and still looks to pivot to a third. A fresh report in Financial Times says the Trump administration is demanding to know what is Pacific allies will do in the event of a war with China over Taiwan.
Specifically the US government has been pressing Japan and Australia to clarify their roles in the event that China moves militarily on Taiwan. Elbridge Colby, US under-secretary of defense for policy, has held meetings with Australian and Japanese officials in recent months with this end in mind.
Colby has made clear in a Sunday statement that he’s working on implementing President Donald Trump’s agenda of “restoring deterrence and achieving peace through strength.” He outlined that this includes “urging allies to step up their defense spending and other efforts related to our collective defense.”
And separately, a US defense official described that the “animating theme” of these recent discussions with allies was “to intensify and accelerate efforts to strengthen deterrence in a balanced, equitable way.”
The official was quoted in FT as saying “We do not seek war. Nor do we seek to dominate China itself. What we are doing is ensuring the United States and its allies have the military strength to underwrite diplomacy and guarantee peace.”
But Beijing might understandably disagree, given that in recent months it has been confirmed that the US maintains hundreds of Marines in Taiwan, including on its small outlying islands near China’s coast, ostensibly for “training” purposes.
We can imagine what Washington’s reaction would be if China had PLA troops all over Cuba or even US territory Puerto Rico, in support of a Puerto Rican ‘independence movement’.
Japan, which has never had an actual military to speak of after its WW2 defeat, would likely be expected to play host to American troop build-ups and naval fleets.
As for Australia, it has clarified it will not commit troops in advance to any conflict. As laid out by the defense minister:
Australia will not commit troops in advance to any conflict, Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said on Sunday, responding to a report that the Pentagon has pressed its ally to clarify what role it would play if the U.S. and China went to war over Taiwan.
Australia prioritizes its sovereignty and “we don’t discuss hypotheticals”, Conroy said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Recent trade conflicts with China have threatened to devastate whole Australian export industries, and so Australia is not in any mood to poke the panda over theoretical future US war plans.
Australia will not commit troops in advance to any conflict, its defense industry minister said, responding to a report that the Pentagon pressed its ally to clarify what role it would play if the US and China went to war over Taiwan https://t.co/zVqw1tBqiA pic.twitter.com/ak7SUQPDRd
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 13, 2025
One regional analyst was quoted in FT as pointing out the obvious, from allies’ perspectives: “President Trump has not committed to defend Taiwan, so it is unrealistic for the US to insist on clear commitments from others.”
And given that America’s recent entangling conflicts have not gone well for Washington, and remain unpopular even among the American public (Iraq and Afghanistan being the foremost examples), why would allied countries want to sign on to such military adventurism at all, much less in advance?
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