US allies in Asia alarmed as think tank calls for pullback

A study by a US foreign policy think tank advocates a major military pullback from the western Pacific, prompting concern among long-standing allies of the United States across the Indo-Pacific, analysts say.

The report was authored by Jennifer Kavanagh, a senior fellow and director of military analysis at the right-of-center Defense Priorities Foundation. Kavanagh calls for the US to "narrow its defense commitments in the region" by ending mutual defense alliances with South Korea , Japan , Australia and the Philippines .

The priority for Washington, she states, is to defend the US homeland and safeguard access to key economic markets and trade routes. That would be best served by pulling back from the "first island chain," which runs from Okinawa in southern Japan, through Taiwan and on to the Philippines.

Kavanagh writes that US forces should be pared back and moved to the "second island chain," which runs from eastern Japan to the Northern Marianas Islands in the central Pacific, Guam, Palau and on to Papua New Guinea.

The report states that moving the troops back would make their positions easier to defend and "reduce the risk of a catastrophic war with China."

Such a withdrawal would arguably be most keenly felt in Taiwan , which Beijing views as a renegade province that must one day be assimilated into greater China .

In her report, Kavanagh notes that the US has no formal commitment to come to the assistance of Taiwan in the event of an attack by China. She warns that any armed clash "would come at an exorbitant cost for the United States, far in excess of any benefits."

"With a cost-benefit calculation this lopsided, a change in the US commitment to Taiwan seems wise," she said. "The United States should shift from strategic ambiguity to a clear non-intervention policy in the event of any military confrontation over Taiwan."