In a move to enhance leadership in the Indo-Pacific region, US president Donald Trump on Monday signed a law that aims to counter China’s rising military and strategic influence in the region. The Asia Reassurance Initiative Act (ARIA) is expected to play a vital role in promoting a rules-based order in a free and open Indo-Pacific, and bringing disruptive elements in line to respect the international law.
With an allocated budget of $1.5 billion over a five-year period, the Act aims to enhance cooperation with Americas strategic regional allies in the region.
A segue to Quad dialogue
Introduced in April 2018, passed by the US Senate on December 4, and approved by the US Congress on December 12, ARIA is among the 13 bills signed into law by Trump on the last day of the year. It comes just two months after the informal consultative mechanism, Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, was revived among India, Japan, Australia and the US, on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit (EAS) in Singapore.
Also read: The geographic problem of USAs Indo-Pacific strategy
In fact, the Act, introduced by Senators Cory Gardner, Ed Markey, and co-sponsored by Marco Rubio
The primary aim of the QSD is to thwart Chinas growing ambitions and advances in security and discuss measures to balance the power dynamics across the Indo-Pacific region. The members of the Quad had agreed in November to forge a coalition to contain Chinese maritime expansionism, by patrolling and controlling waterways along the Indian and the Pacific Ocean up to the disputed waters of East and South China Seas.
What does the new law entail?
The latest legislation states that the core tenets of the US-backed international system are being challenged by “China’s illegal construction and militarization of artificial features in the South China Sea and coercive economic practices; North Korea’s acceleration of its nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities; and the increased presence throughout Southeast Asia of the Islamic State and other international terrorist organisations that threaten the United States.”
Describing India as a major
The law also lays down provisions to facilitate technology sharing including licence-free access to a wide range of dual-use technologies, while making note of national security concerns. Topics governing joint exercises, coordination on
Why it matters
By stepping up multifaceted
ARIA further calls for the strengthening, broadening and structuring of strategic ties between the nations, that will also extend to a diplomatic and economic alliance according to Section 204 of the Act. Above all, the law
This
The legislation arriving on the heels of Quads rebirth further underscores the brewing suspicion and growing unease in the global political landscape when it comes to Chinas meteoric military and economic advancements and growing assertiveness on the world stage.
Prarthana Mitra is a staff writer at Qrius
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