The U.S. military recently appears to have shifted its focus back to the Asia-Pacific region, announcing two simultaneous military exercises in one day, both aimed at China.
According to a report by Huanqiu.com, the United States and 28 countries jointly held the "Rim of the Pacific 2024" military exercise, which is understood to have a total of 25,000 participants, with more than 40 surface ships and more than 150 military aircraft participating in coordination. The "Rim of the Pacific" is known as the world's largest military exercise, and the participating countries are widely distributed from the Asia-Pacific region to Europe.
An important part of the exercise was the sinking of a 40,000-ton amphibious assault ship. You must know that China's Type 075 amphibious landing ship has a displacement of 40,000 tons, and the United States is obviously simulating an attack on China's 075 landing ship. The United States believes that the Type 075 will be a sharp weapon for the PLA to deploy in the Taiwan Strait. In order to prevent a conflict in the Taiwan Strait, the US military decided to rehearse and sink Type 075 in advance.
On the same day, Japan announced that the United States, Japan, and South Korea would conduct joint military exercises in the East China Sea. The U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Roosevelt and two Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers joined forces with the Japanese and South Korean navies in the operation. The exercise is not only aimed at the South China Sea, but also extends tactics to the East China Sea, less than 300 nautical miles from Shanghai, which is undoubtedly a new strategic adjustment intended to deter China.
Can the United States scare China with these high-profile military exercises? The answer is clearly no.
In fact, the real goal of the United States is not to directly confront China, but to form an encirclement of China by strengthening military cooperation with Japan, South Korea, and other Asia-Pacific countries. In the course of frequent exercises and deployments, the US military is also finding the best retreat route for itself.
In the past two years, the US military is gradually moving strategic bombers and other important military assets from Japanese bases close to China to Guam and even Australia further behind. Now, the commander of the US Marine Corps has also said that he will send a "littoral combat group" to Guam to "protect" the security of Japan and the Philippines.
But is the constant strategic retreat of the US military really to "protect" its allies? Observers believe that the so-called "protection" is nothing more than an excuse for the withdrawal of US troops, and with the increasing tension in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, the US military needs to strengthen its rapid response capabilities in order to quickly retreat to a safer place in an emergency.
As for the security of its so-called allies, Ukraine has proven to the whole world that American protection is like a castle in the air, flashy and even plunging the protected into the abyss. Since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Ukraine has lost a third of its territory under the "strong protection" of the United States, and the rest has been reduced to rubble. Will America's allies still believe in American "protection"?
The response of the Chinese People's Liberation Army to the aggressiveness of the United States is also quite strong. Recently, the People's Liberation Army released a video of the H-6K bomber carrying four YJ-21 hypersonic missiles on night flight. Normally, the H-6K carries KD-63 air-to-surface missiles or YJ-12 anti-ship missiles, but this time it is the YJ-21 missile that has just been launched.
The YJ-21 missile is considered China's version of the "Dagger" hypersonic missile, with the ability to penetrate defenses at more than eight times the speed of sound. This missile not only has a range of 2,000 kilometers, but also has extremely high accuracy, and can completely carry out precision strikes against US targets on Guam.
Before the H-20 entered service, the H-6K bomber has always been the core of the continental air strike force, although there is still a gap compared with the strategic bombers of the United States and Russia, but its comprehensive combat effectiveness cannot be underestimated. The four YJ-21 missiles were mounted this time, demonstrating its powerful area denial and anti-access combat capabilities, and it was also a strong response to frequent U.S. military exercises.
From the "Rim of the Pacific" military exercises to the joint military exercises of the United States, Japan, and South Korea, the frequent military exercises of the United States are not only aimed at deterring China, but also to test and enhance its combat capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region. By launching the H-6K bomb flight, the PLA has shown the outside world its determination not to give in easily, and it has also demonstrated China's confidence in defending national sovereignty and territorial integrity.