BEIJING, May 26 — Extra-regional countries, other than the United States, continued to expand their military presence in the Western Pacific over the past year, conducting reconnaissance patrols, transiting the Taiwan Strait and carrying out forward deployments, according to a think tank report released Tuesday.
Compiled from incomplete statistics, the “Report on the Military Activities of Non-U.S. Extra-Regional Countries in the Western Pacific in 2025” records that 48 warships, mostly from Europe, Oceania and Canada, operated in the region last year.
These vessels clocked up 610 ship-days of operations, averaging nearly two ships on patrol per day, according to the report produced by the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative, a Beijing-based maritime think tank.
The report also logs around 1,500 military aircraft sorties by Australia, Canada, India and other external nations in the Western Pacific last year. It further states that the true scale of such operations was likely larger because crews may have turned off transponders during missions.
In 2025, France and Britain successively deployed their respective aircraft carrier strike groups in the Western Pacific. The report points out that deploying large platforms or task groups has become the main tactic for traditional maritime powers to increase visibility.
Moreover, extra-regional navies also intensified declaratory activities and escalated involvement in large-scale military drills, the report adds.
It notes that, apart from coordinating with U.S. operations, the primary objectives of extra-regional countries are to assert presence, strengthen ties with regional countries, and uphold the so-called “rules-based international order.”
Hu Bo, director of the think tank, argued that despite the carefully crafted rhetoric from these countries over their Western Pacific military moves, it is clear that China remains their primary target.
He also cautioned against irrational policy-making based on politicized or exaggerated claims like “China aims to dominate the South China Sea.”
“Divergences in maritime rules between China and these countries should be resolved through dialogue, discussion and coordination, rather than by military means,” Hu stressed. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
