They destabilize the region, seeking to reorder its vibrant and diverse communities toward their exclusive advantage.
We see this manifested in a range of behaviors and activities throughout the Indo－Pacific, “a toolkit of coercion,” to include：
Deploying advanced weapons systems to militarize disputed areas, destabilizing the peaceful status quo by threatening the use of force to compel rivals into conceding claims;
Using influence operations to interfere in the domestic politics of other nations, undermining the integrity of elections and threatening internal stability;
Engaging in predatory economics and debt for sovereignty deals, lubricated by corruption, which take advantage of pressing economic needs to structure unequal bargains that disproportionately benefit one party; and,
Promoting state－sponsored theft of other nations’ military and civilian technology.
In contrast to the free and open vision broadly shared by the region, some seem to want a future where power determines place and debt determines destiny： |
