Whether the recent agreement holds together or not, the Camp David meeting is a further step in Washington’s strategy of inserting tensions, instability and continuing provocations in the region in an attempt to block China’s development and its growing regional trade with its neighbors. Washington is attempting to distract from the economic decline of the U.S. by asserting its military dominance in the Pacific.

U.S. corporations are the main beneficiaries of a policy that obstructs Japan’s and South Korea’s trade with China. China’s huge economy is a major market for their products, thus aiding the economies of its two neighbors. According to the Wilson Center, China is the top trading partner of more than 120 countries, including Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines and Australia. U.S. corporate interests are consumed with the task of how to reverse this economic reality and contain China, especially in the Asia-Pacific region.

This new Camp David military pact follows Washington’s revival and upgrading of the QUAD — the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue among four countries: the U.S., India, Australia and Japan. The Quad holds joint military exercises that openly target China.