U.S. says Asian push no threat to China
Defense secretary explains American military focus.
SINGAPORE —
From this island nation in the South China Sea, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta sent a message Saturday that America’s new military focus on the Asia-Pacific is not intended to raise tensions in the region or threaten Beijing.
The Pentagon chief appeared to offer an olive branch to the communist power and said often feuding rivals must learn to work better together for the benefit of the region.
Panetta’s speech at a security conference in Singapore was designed to give a more detailed explanation of America’s new defense strategy. It puts more focus on the AsiaPacific region, including plans to increase the number of U.S. military personnel, warships and other assets in the region over the next several years.
Specifically, Panetta said that by 2020, about 60 percent of the fleet will be assigned there. Currently, the Navy has about 285 ships, with roughly half assigned to each coast, but that total may decline a bit as some ships are retired in the coming years and may not be replaced.
The current fleet includes 11 aircraft carriers, with six assigned to the Pacific. The West Coast total is expected to go down to five, but Panetta said he will maintain six carriers in the Pacific over the long term.
While noting it may take years to complete the transition, Panetta said that U.S. budget problems and cutbacks would not get in the way of changes. He said the U.S. Defense Department has money in the five-year budget plan to meet those goals.
He said he is looking forward to visiting China later this year, adding that he wants to see the U.S. and China deepen their military ties, including on counterdrug programs and humanitarian aid.
Singapore is Panetta’s second stop on a nine-day trip through Asia.
On Saturday, he delivered his most extensive thoughts to date on the fragile state of U.S.-China relations. Panetta said neither side is naive about their disagreements.
“We both understand the differences we have, we both understand the conflicts we have, but we also both understand that there really is no other alternative but for both of us to engage and to improve our communications and to improve our (military) relationship,” Panetta said.
At the same time, however, Panetta said Asian nations must find a way to resolve their own conflicts because the U.S. cannot always come charging in to help.
Tensions between the U.S. and China reverberate across the region, and are often focused on America’s support of Taiwan, which China regards as a breakaway province.
Another area of dispute is the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost entirely as its own. But Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines also have territorial claims.