- Статьи
- World
- Airstrip: The US decided to rebuild the base from which Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed
Airstrip: The US decided to rebuild the base from which Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed
The United States is going to restore a military airfield on Tinian Island, which belongs to the Mariana Islands group in the Pacific Ocean. The Americans used this base continuously during World War II and, in particular, launched two nuclear strikes from it - on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Washington decided to reconstruct the facility, located in a strategically important place, in case of an escalation of the conflict with China. Details - in the material "Izvestia".
Consent to reconstruction
"The world in the Indo-Pacific region is changing, and we must recognize this. We must face the truth," said the Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands Arnold Palacios. The day before, he gave the go-ahead to the Pentagon's plan to rebuild the U.S. military base on Tinian Island.
North Field Air Base on Tinian Island, 1945
"Do I wish we didn't have military bases? I think everyone would like to live in peace, but the best deterrent is a good defense," the politician said, adding that the island is concerned about China's recent missile tests in the Pacific and activity in maritime waters near Taiwan. He believes the "first wave of violence" is happening now, and the Marianas could suffer in the next wave of escalation.
Remediation costs could cost the U.S. $800 million, 10 times the amount cited late last year.
First use of nuclear weapons
Tinian belongs to the group of Mariana Islands, which have the status of "unincorporated organized territories" of the US. They were originally discovered by Portuguese navigator Fernan Magellan, who named the region the Islands of Thieves because his boat was stolen there. After that, the territory was under the Spanish crown. At the end of the XIX century these territories were bought by the Germans, and then the lands belonged to the Japanese.
The U.S. plans to restore the North Field air base on Tinian Island in the Pacific Ocean became known last December. This was announced by the commander of the Pacific Air Forces, General Kenneth Wilsbach. The North Field base was actively used by the Americans in World War II.
A view of a B-29 on its return from the bombing of Hiroshima
According to him, these measures were part of the American initiative Agile Combat Employment ("Flexible Combat Employment"), which Washington developed in case of an escalation of the conflict with China. In 1945, the base housed about 40,000 people, the largest in the world at the time, but now 3,500 people live on the entire island.
In August 1945, two B-29s, which participated in the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, flew from the North Field base. Years later, the Americans stopped using this airfield. According to General Wilsbach, it will be "a pretty big facility" when rebuilt. And while the four runways at Tinian are still in pretty good condition, everything around it is overgrown with vegetation and it will take time to clear the base.
From escalation to normalization and back again
In 2023, the U.S. gained access to new air bases in Papua New Guinea and the Philippines. In addition, U.S. authorities agreed to modernize the infrastructure of two airfields in northern Australia. As part of its strategy to deter the PRC, the U.S. also began to conduct trilateral military exercises with South Korea and Japan.
Doctrinal documents adopted by the administration of US President Joseph Biden name China and Russia as the main threats to US national security.
Over the past four years, relations between Beijing and Washington have escalated more than once. The most serious escalation occurred in August 2022, when then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, which irritated Beijing, as well as an incident involving a Chinese balloon over US territory in 2023. The Americans considered the balloon a spy, although the Chinese described it as a weather balloon that had gone off-track.
Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan
Through several rounds of shuttle diplomacy, the Americans and Chinese were able to stabilize relations and even reach agreements. One of the most important was the re-establishment of military-to-military contacts, as well as cooperation in the fight against fentanyl, which the U.S. has long insisted on.
At a recent meeting in Peru at the APEC summit, Biden and Xi Jinping agreed on "the need to maintain human control over the decision to use nuclear weapons." The American leader raised the issue of increased PRC military activity around Taiwan in the South China Sea. And the Chinese President spoke out against the measures initiated by the Biden administration to limit China's access to advanced technologies. In addition, the Chinese leader once again made it clear that the Taiwan issue is the main "red line" for Beijing.
Xi Jinping noted that China is willing to work with the new US administration of Donald Trump to "expand cooperation, maintain communication, and resolve differences to strive for the sustainable development of relations" between the countries.
However, Donald Trump's return to the White House could lead to a deterioration in relations with China. During his first presidential term, the politician started a large-scale trade war with China, and during the election campaign he promised to impose 60 percent tariffs on absolutely all Chinese imports to the United States.
The anti-Chinese course of the future American leader is also confirmed by his appointments to positions in the government of officials known for their tough policy toward Beijing. Trump appointed Florida Congressman Mike Waltz as National Security Advisor and Florida Senator Marco Rubio as Secretary of State.
Ilon Musk talks to US President-elect Donald Trump
Meanwhile, Tesla and SpaceX founder Ilon Musk, who has openly opposed the US technology war with China, also joined the team of the future president. He cooperates with China in the production of Tesla cars, he has a wide range of business interests in the country - Beijing provides the company with certain freedoms and benefits for work in the PRC.
What experts think
Vasily Kashin, Director of the Center for Complex European and International Studies at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, noted in a conversation with Izvestia that the line for the restoration of the military structure in the Pacific Ocean, including the reconstruction of facilities abandoned since World War II, became apparent some time ago.
- Work is beginning in some places in the Pacific where nothing was done throughout the Cold War. At that time, the Pacific front was secondary. There is a consensus in the American elite that China is the main enemy, it must be tightly contained," the political scientist explained.
According to him, there are only some tactical issues between the Republican and Democratic parties in the country regarding the position on China, but not disagreements.
Beijing
- During Trump's previous presidential term, there were people in his entourage - as well as now - who had some dealings with Beijing, but in principle, if the issue became an issue, these interests were put aside," the expert emphasized.
The analyst believes that it is always advantageous for the American administration to "have a good cop and an evil cop," but it cannot seriously affect the policy.
- Ilon Musk's Tesla makes a significant part of its cars in China and sells a lot of them there, it is dependent on Chinese components, but at the same time Musk's main business depends on the American state, which is his main customer. If the gap between China and the US deepens, Musk will move some production to other countries from China, even if it will be very painful for him," the specialist summarized.
Ivan Timofeev, director general of the Russian International Affairs Council, believes that despite everything, the United States has so far avoided excessive escalation of sanctions against Beijing. For example, telecommunications companies and firms specializing in dual-use products are subject to export controls, but little use is made of blocking barriers.
"More than a hundred companies have fallen under secondary sanctions for cooperation with Russia, but among them there is not a single company that is large enough and systemically important for the industry. Point blocking sanctions are used on Hong Kong and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, but their macroeconomic effect is vanishingly small," the political scientist believes.
Tesla factory in China
He added that at the same time, the current level of sanctions "allows Washington to solve its political tasks in a very limited way."
"In the foreseeable future, the pressure of US sanctions on the PRC will increase. But a rapid strengthening of sanctions is unlikely. China is too large an economy. Carpet bombing it with sanctions would cause significant damage to the US itself. The pendulum of relations between the two countries has swung from cooperation to rivalry. However, the safety margin created by China is now playing into Beijing's hands," the expert believes.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
