While China denounces the 'unjust' war against Iran, Washington's Asian allies are watching with concern the relocation of U.S. military assets.

The Tripoli, an American amphibious assault ship, has just sailed from its home port in Sasebo, on the Japanese island of Kyushu, bound for the Middle East with 2,500 Marines aboard.

“The Tripoli, an American amphibious assault ship, has just sailed from its home port in Sasebo, on the Japanese island of Kyushu, bound for the Middle East with 2,500 Marines aboard”

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The deployment includes F-35 stealth fighters, MV-22 Osprey transport aircraft, and landing craft ready to move troops ashore.

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In South Korea they have been two weeks watching U.S. forces dismantle THAAD and Patriot systems at Osan Air Base, 70 kilometers from Seoul.

These shields, designed to protect South Koreans from a possible North Korean air attack, are now loaded onto C-17 aircraft bound for the Persian Gulf, intended to protect U.S. bases from Iranian missile and drone attacks.

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In Seoul and Tokyo, the closest allies of Washington in the Indo-Pacific, the temporary reduction of U.S. military capability, a key deterrent against Beijing or Pyongyang, is causing concern.

“The Tripoli, an American amphibious assault ship, has just sailed from its home port in Sasebo, on the Japanese island of Kyushu, bound for the Middle East with 2,500 Marines aboard”

El Mundo

The war in the Middle East is testing the U.S. security commitment in a region that the Trump Administration dubbed 'our top-priority theater'.

In South Korea, President Lee Jae Myung has tried to reassure the population that the country can still deter North Korea, even if the U.S. relocates resources and weapons.

A few days after Lee's initial statement in this regard, Pyongyang demonstrated its strength by launching 10 ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan.

Analysts and diplomats agree that, in the long term, this conflict may weaken American influence vis-a-vis China, which is accelerating its military modernization.

'Washington's focus on Iran opens Beijing a margin for territorial assertiveness,' warns a European diplomat based in Beijing, citing everything from greater pressure on Taiwan to the construction of new artificial islands in the South China Sea.

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According to a 2024 report from the U.S. Congress, in East Asia there are 24 permanent U.S. bases and another 20 military sites to which the Pentagon has access.

The largest air base is Okinawa, in Japan.

The Philippines expanded in 2023 the number of bases accessible to the U.S. to nine, including four new ones, three of them in Luzon, near Taiwan.

In Taipei they also watch with concern how the war in Iran is draining the long-range cruise missile reserves that the U.S. would need to thwart any attempt by China to invade.

In just six days, U.S. forces fired 786 JASSM missiles and 319 Tomahawks, enough to exhaust several years of production.

'My main concern is that we are consuming munitions we would need to deter an attack on Taiwan,' a senior Taiwanese official told the Financial Times.

Another national security official added: 'If the U.S. devotes too much time and resources to other battlefields, a real imbalance is created.'

With China claiming the island and threatening to take it by force, the loss of American capability is not a minor detail: it weakens deterrence and increases Taiwan's vulnerability just when it would depend most on Washington.

'Beijing could certainly benefit. Washington's involvement in multiple conflicts, including the ongoing war in Iran, is straining its armed forces,' he continues.

In Beijing, Chinese spokespersons continue calling for an end to the conflict in the Middle East, warning about its impact on energy, maritime transport and global trade.

'History and reality have repeatedly shown that force does not solve problems and that armed conflict only engenders more hatred,' said Lin Jian, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi called the conflict an 'unjust war' during a call with Emmanuel Bonne, the top diplomatic adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron.

With the exception of the United States, Wang has discussed the conflict with all permanent members of the UN Security Council.

'We must work together to defend international law and prevent the world from returning to the law of the jungle,' he said.

This Sunday, at the opening of an economic forum in Beijing, Premier Li Qiang launched another veiled critique of Washington in a plea against protectionism: 'Now, power politics acts with impunity; at the same time, calls to defend fairness and justice are heard more loudly.'