In Asia, the Game of Thrones is On

Excerpt, formal communique following the annual Australian-United States Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN), held 12 August between Australian FM Bishop and MoD Johnston and U.S. SecState Kerry and SecDef Hagel:

Australia and the United States reaffirmed the strong state of bilateral defence and security cooperation under the Alliance, as demonstrated through a decade of operations together in Afghanistan and Iraq.

With the signature today of the legally-binding Force Posture Agreement between Australia and the United States, we reaffirmed our commitment to work towards full implementation of the Force Posture Initiatives in Australia. The agreement provides a robust policy and legal framework and financial principles for implementation of the force posture initiatives announced in 2011. It demonstrates the United States’ strong commitment to the Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean regions and Australia’s firm support for the US rebalance. The agreement also reaffirms our mutual intent to deepen our relationship and regional security through expanded cooperation together and with other countries in the region.

Australia and the United States welcomed the larger US Marine Corps presence under the third rotational deployment currently in Darwin and discussed the way forward for enhanced aircraft cooperation. They discussed the potential for additional bilateral naval cooperation and welcomed the significant, wide-ranging series of port visits planned for 2015. They also asked their respective officials to develop practical options to enhance naval training and exercises in Australia and the region.

Acknowledging the high-level of interoperability between Australian and US Special Forces, both sides supported fostering these links to address shared threats and enhance capacity within the region.

The two countries committed to continue to work together to counter the growing threat of ballistic missiles in the Asia Pacific region, including by establishing a bilateral working group to examine options for potential Australian contributions to ballistic missile defence in the region.

Excerpt, news story regarding the Government of the Philippines and former USN base Subic Bay:

“They can come here provided they have prior coordination from the government,” Filipino Under Secretary for Defense Affairs Honorio Azcueta announced shortly after his meeting with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey on Monday. 

“That’s what [the Philippines] want ... increase in exercises and interoperability” with U.S. forces, Azcueta said, according to reports by the Philippine Star. 

Azcueta's announcement opens the door for the first American military deployments to Clark Air Force Base and the naval base in Subic Bay since DOD officially shuttered the facilities in 1991 and 1992, respectively. 

The deal to reopen Subic Bay and Clark Air Force Base was struck during Dempsey's visit to the Asia-Pacific region to attend the Shangri-La defense talks held in Singapore last Saturday. 

Excerpt, The Navy Times:

SINGAPORE — The Singapore military has agreed in-principle to allow the U.S. Navy to deploy up to four littoral combat ships to the city-state on a rotational basis.

Excerpt, The Diplomat:

Both dialogues [between ministers of Vietnam and USG officials] were held within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding on Advancing Bilateral Defense Cooperation signed on September 19, 2011 and the U.S.-Vietnam Joint Statement of July 25, 2013.

The 2011 MOU set out five priority areas for bilateral defense cooperation: regular high-level dialogues between the Department of Defense and the Ministry of National Defense, maritime security, search and rescue, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief and peacekeeping. The MOU, in fact, was a codification of activities that were already being carried out. The MOU was also a transparency measure designed to mitigate – to the extent possible – Beijing’s fears of U.S.-Vietnam military collusion against China.

As badly as we have managed affairs of late, it's sobering to watch how suddenly popular the U.S. is in China's neighborhood.