Asian Allies Wary as US Shifts Military Assets to Middle East
Erin Hale (Al Jazeera)
US allies in Asia are watching with concern as Washington moves military assets, including its last regional aircraft carrier, to the Middle East for the campaign against Iran. Experts say the shift could weaken US deterrence against China, even as the bulk of US forces remain in the Asia-Pacific.
US allies in Asia are watching with caution as Washington trims military resources in the region to meet demands in the Middle East, where the US campaign against Iran has entered its sixth month.
The latest flashpoint emerged this week when the US moved its last aircraft carrier in Asia – the USS George Washington – from Japan to the Middle East to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln, which had been deployed continuously for nine months. Multiple reports indicate the USS Abraham Lincoln is short of food, with broken sanitation systems leading to unsanitary living conditions and deteriorating health. At least one sailor has attempted to jump off the ship.
News of the USS George Washington's departure from the Asia-Pacific follows earlier reports this year that the US shifted part of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system from South Korea to counter Iran, as well as drawing down missile and ammunition stockpiles to sustain the campaign.
William Yang, senior Northeast Asia analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the moves together diminish the US ability to project power in Asia and its capacity to counter threats from China. "If you look at the bigger picture, this certainly has an impact on the effectiveness of the US-led regional deterrence strategy against China," Yang said of the USS George Washington redeployment.
With the last US carrier gone from the region, the Chinese fleet is increasingly pushing beyond the first island chain, a line running from northern Japan through Taiwan, northern Philippines and to Borneo. The Cold War-era defense perimeter was designed to contain Beijing, but recently it has failed to prevent China's carriers, the Liaoning and Shandong, from steaming into the western Pacific.
In addition, Chinese coast guard activity has increased since June in waters east of Taiwan, which overlap with the exclusive economic zones of Japan and the Philippines. "These maritime operations are aimed at Taipei, Manila, and Tokyo," Yang told Al Jazeera. "Part of it is to test the US response and Washington's ability to react."
Ja Ian Chong, political and security science expert at the National University of Singapore, suggested US allies may worry that China will grow more confident as the US shifts military power westward. "US allies and partners might wonder whether this move hands China additional confidence to probe and pressure," he said, while stressing the carrier deployment reduces US flexibility, even though the bulk of US forces remain in the region.
The Asia-Pacific region currently hosts roughly 375,000 US military and civilian personnel under the US Indo-Pacific Command, with tens of thousands stationed in South Korea and Japan. Chong views the redeployment as symbolic of a shift in US strategy in Asia, where under President Trump, regional allies are expected to take a leading role in their own defense, while still backed by the US.
The 2026 US Defense Strategy calls for increasing "burden-sharing with allies and partners worldwide" to counter threats from China, North Korea, Russia, and Iran. The strategy also urges allies in Europe and Asia to raise military spending to 3.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and security-related spending to 1.5 percent of GDP by the 2030s.
South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan have been quick to boost defense spending, with Taipei announcing an 18 percent increase in its defense budget for 2027. Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. last month called for lifting defense spending to 4 percent of GDP to counter China, as Manila also deepens security cooperation with Tokyo and, more quietly, with Taipei.
Chong predicts this trend will continue to deepen as Asia adjusts. "US allies and partners have already increased spending and operational capability with less US support. The latest development could further drive this trend. They are also looking to cooperate more closely with each other, alongside building internal capacity," he said.
Taiwanese and Japanese security experts also expressed expectations that US attention – along with its carriers – will ultimately return to Asia. Kei Koga, an East Asia security expert at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, called the deployment of military assets to the Middle East "worrisome in the short term," but did not view it as evidence of a long-term US strategic retreat from the region. K Tristan Tang, a research fellow at the Asia Research Bureau, held a similar view, noting that US amphibious ready groups – capable of carrying F-35B stealth fighters – remain in the region despite the USS George Washington's departure.
Tang also stressed that even if the anti-Iran campaign drags on, he doesn't think President Trump will forget the world's second-largest power. "In the back of President Trump's mind, the most important thing remains US economic interests and the economic issue with China. China remains the top priority."
