 |
| US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta speaks during a plenary session of the 11th International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) Asia Security Summit: The Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore June 2, 2012. The United States will keep six aircraft carriers in the Asia-Pacific and move a majority of its other warships to the region in the coming years, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Saturday as he offered details of a new U.S. military strategy for the first time. (Reuters Photo/Tim Chong) |
Related
articles
- Top Chinese Official Accused of Being US Spy: Report
- US Open to Defense Ties With Myanmar: Panetta
- Chinese Missile Boat a Game Changer in South China Sea Disputes
- US Defense Secretary, SBY in Singapore for 'Shangri-la Dialogue'
- Chinese Wind Towers Hit With US Tariffs
Singapore.
The United States will keep six aircraft carriers in the Asia-Pacific and move
most of its other warships to the region in the coming years, Defense Secretary
Leon Panetta said on Saturday as he offered details of a new US military
strategy for the first time.
Speaking to
an annual security forum in Singapore, Panetta also sought to dispel the notion
that the shift in US focus to the Asia-Pacific was part of an American effort
to contain China’s emergence as a global power.
“I reject
that view entirely. Our effort to renew and intensify our involvement in Asia
is fully compatible with the development and growth of China,” Panetta said in
remarks prepared for the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual conference that draws
senior civilian and military leaders from 30 countries.
Panetta’s
comments came at the outset of a seven-day visit to the region to explain to
allies and partners the practical meaning of a US military strategy unveiled in
January that calls for rebalancing American forces to focus on the Pacific.
The trip,
which includes stops in Vietnam and India, comes at a time of renewed tensions
over competing sovereignty claims in the South China Sea, with Manila and
Beijing in a standoff over the Scarborough Shoal near the Philippine coast.
China has
downgraded its representation to the Shangri-La Dialogue compared to last year,
when Defense Minister Liang Guanglie attended and met with then-US Defense
Secretary Robert Gates. This year the Chinese military was represented by the
vice president of Academy of Military Sciences.
Panetta, on
the other hand, was accompanied by General Martin Dempsey, the US military’s
top officer as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Admiral Samuel
Locklear, the head of the US Pacific Command, who leads US forces in the
region.
Panetta
said he was committed to building a “healthy, stable, reliable and continuous”
military-to-military relationship with China, but he underscored the importance
of Beijing supporting a rules-based system to clarify rights in the region and
help to peacefully resolve disputes.
“China has
a critical role to play in advancing security and prosperity by respecting the
rules-based order that has served the region for six decades,” he said.
Six
aircraft carriers
Fleshing
out details of the US shift to Asia, Panetta told officials attending the
Singapore conference that the United States would reposition its Navy fleet in
the coming years so that by 2020, 60 percent of its warships would be assigned
to the Asia-Pacific region, versus about 50 percent now.
He said the
Navy would maintain six aircraft carriers assigned to the Pacific. Six of the
Navy’s 11 carriers are currently assigned to the Pacific, but that number will
fall to five when the USS Enterprise retires this year.
Panetta’s
announcement means the number of carriers in the Pacific will rise to six again
when the new carrier USS Gerald R. Ford is completed in 2015. The US Navy had a
fleet of 282 ships including support vessels as of March this year. That number
was expected to slip to about 276 over the next two years before beginning to
rise again toward the Navy’s goal of a 300-ship fleet, according to a 30-year
Navy shipbuilding projection released in March. But officials warned that
fiscal constraints and continuing problems with cost overruns could make it
difficult to attain the goal of a 300-ship fleet over the course of the 30-year
period.
Panetta
underscored the breadth of the US commitment to the Asia-Pacific, noting
Washington’s treaty alliances with Japan, South Korea, Thailand, the
Philippines and Australia as well as its partnerships with India, Singapore,
Indonesia and other countries. He said the United States would attempt to build
on those partnerships with cooperative arrangements like the rotational
deployment agreement it has with Australia and is working on with the
Philippines.
Panetta
said the United States also would work to increase the number and size of
bilateral and multilateral training exercises it conducts in the region.
Officials said last year the United States carried out 172 such exercises in
the region.
The US
defense secretary also sought to address concerns that the Washington might be
unable to meet its commitments to the region because of tightening defense
budgets and fiscal uncertainty.
“The
Department of Defense has in our five-year budget plan a detailed blueprint for
implementing this strategy, realizing our long-term goals in this region and
still meeting our fiscal responsibilities,” Panetta said.
Indonesian
president
On Friday
evening, Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono gave a keynote speech
themed “An Architecture for Durable Peace in the Asia Pacific.”
Yudhoyono
said efforts by the United States and China to develop a cooperative
relationship boded well for global peace and prosperity.
“The
Indonesian President asked countries in the region and major powers to advance
cooperation and set aside conflicts,” the office of the president said in a
press statement on Saturday. “The geopolitics of cooperation will create a situation
that is constructive to regional economic development and welfare.”
Reuters, Deutsche Press-Agentur, JG
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.