Towering over commercial vessels as it passed Singapore this month, the USS Tripoli amphibious assault ship offered a potent illustration of the military might that has ensured American dominance in Asia for decades.
But the Tripoli — laden with marines and helicopters — was heading for the Middle East from its base in Japan, part of a redeployment to support the US-Israeli war in Iran that some in Beijing see as further tilting the regional balance of power in China’s favour.
“If the US military presence in the Asia-Pacific is weakened, you can imagine the consequences. Who will benefit?” Li Yihu, a member of China’s rubber-stamp parliament, told reporters in Beijing in unusually frank comments this month.
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