Mounting US pressure on allies to bolster the first island chain’s defence in the western Pacific Ocean is raising concerns about South Korea’s possible but reluctant involvement in a conflict over Taiwan, analysts have said.
In its recently released National Security Strategy (NSS), US President Donald Trump’s administration highlighted the importance of a “favourable conventional military balance” as an “essential component of strategic competition”, focusing on deterring conflict over Taiwan by preserving “military overmatch”.
While the latest NSS pledged to build a military “capable of denying aggression anywhere in the first island chain”, it said that the US “cannot, and should not have to, do this alone”.
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Allies “must step up and spend – and more importantly do – much more for collective defence”, it added.
The NSS outlines US strategic priorities and vision, including military posture, national threats and ties with allies and adversaries.
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“America’s diplomatic efforts should focus on pressing our first island chain allies and partners to allow the US military greater access to their ports and other facilities, to spend more on their own defence, and most importantly to invest in capabilities aimed at deterring aggression,” it said.