More U.S. warships in Asia-Pacific under new strategy: Panetta

Πηγή: Deccan Chronicle
By Reuters
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, Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said on Saturday as he offered details of a new U.S. 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 U.S. 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 nations.

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 U.S. military strategy unveiled in January that calls for re-balancing 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 Defence Minister Liang Guanglie attended and met with then-U.S. Defence 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 U.S. military's top officer as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Admiral Samuel Locklear, the head of the U.S. Pacific Command, who leads U.S. 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 U.S. 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 per cent of its warships would be assigned to the Asia-Pacific region, versus about 50 per cent 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. defence 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 Defence has in our five-year budget plan a detailed blueprint for implementing this strategy, realising our long-term goals in this region and still meeting our fiscal responsibilities," Panetta said.

Unpacking Russia's stabilizing role in the Asian Pacific

Πηγή: Diplonews
By Shawnna Robert
Feb 10 2012

In an interview published in the Izvestia newspaper on January 27, 2012, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov directly addressed a perceived Chinese-American struggle for influence in the Asia Pacific region and how Russia plans to maintain its influence. The premiss of the statement is based on a recent shift in policy by the U.S., part of which is inspired by a potential shift in power in the region as a result of China’s military buildup. According to Lavrov, Russia already is a stabilizing factor in the region and hopes to strengthen its role as such in the future. Given the multiple armament and economic security threats in the area, Lavrov said the growing interest in the region is justified. However, he cautioned that it is important that foreign interests must avoid heated confrontationand maintain mutually stimulating partnerships. He claimed a friendly and mutual beneficial relationship with nearly every country in the region, with an emphasis on comprehensive development and multilateral diplomatic dialogue.

In the interview, Lavrov boasted the impact that a 2010 Russian-Chinese proposal for a comprehensive cooperation and security mechanism in the Asia Pacific region could have in laying the foundation for a regional security system based on international law. He hopes these ideas become a unifying factor moving forward, and already has seen some provisions mentioned in high-level bilateral meetings across the region. While the joint Chinese-Russian proposal seemed to garner minimal attention back when it was first announced, Lavrov has brought the initiative up in multiple interviews in the past weeks as he continues to blaze the trail for the upcoming APEC Summit in September. Russia will host the summit, scheduled for September 8th and 9th, and plans an ambitious lineup of events leading up to September. With seven months left until the summit, we can expect to hear more image-building rhetoric from Russia on its role in the Asia Pacific region.

In announcing that the U.S. is entering a Pacific century, the U.S. government has been initiating significant shifts military and diplomatic policy. The most notable change so far is the decision to establish the first American base in Australia. Considering the enormous economic importance the Asia Pacific region has for the U.S., including the manufacturing and shipping of goods, the U.S. has a sense of responsibility to ensure stability. The list of destabilizing factors the U.S. anticipates includes China’s military build-up and the potential for a shift in regional power, uncertainty in the Korean peninsula, and the instabilities that can come from quick economic growth. In particular with China, although there is a growing sentiment among experts that it is unlikely that China will become a military threat to the U.S., the pace and scope of China’s expansion of military capabilities has raised concerns about China’s intentions. The U.S. sees the potential for a disproportionately powerful China to destabilize regional military and diplomatic balances.

China has been aggressively expanding its diplomatic reach in the region over the past few months, including with India, Singapore, and South Korea. China is not entirelyfond of the implied message of the decision to build up a military presence and focus on the region. Official word from China takes issue with the familiar claims stresses that its military build up is for peaceful modernization, and that its strategic intention is clear, open, and transparent. However, it does respect the U.S. legitimate interests in the region andwelcomes the U.S. as a constructive force. China also takes plenty of opportunities to point out the cooperation-damaging steps the U.S. often takes, most notably the regularsales of arms to Taiwan. U.S.-Chinese military representatives meet frequently and are working to prevent any misunderstandings that may arise from mutual suspicion. These meetings are not negotiations to change either countries actions, however, and both parties remain committed to their policies.

Russia does seem to have a number of mechanisms available to help ensure stability in the region if it choses to. Among the economic factors it can use to its advantage are: extensive gas exports, with pipelines that extend into the Asia Pacific region and plans for expansions; an overly strong raw materials export sector, which will be a benefit to the region’s other WTO members now that Russia has acceded to the WTO; a continued strong demand for imports of finished products and consumer goods, which in turn results in a reliable stream of revenue for the region’s producers and exporters. As a result, Russia could play an important role in stabilizing the economic situation in the region, which will encourage political and social stabilization as well, so long as Russia refrains from using its export resources as a diplomatic tool.

Militarily, despite the pitfalls of an aging fleet, Russia is still an important military power in the region. It is in the midst of a military build-up to replace its aging fleet and to reinvigorate its defense industry exports. However, this build-up keeps getting stuck in contract negotiations and thus has been much slower than expected. Eventually, Russia’s military exports could work to keep the balance of power in the region by helping China’s neighboring countries to reinvigorate their own militaries. Though Russia and China have friendly relations and similar policy goals, Russia tends to continue exporting arms despite controversy, as it does to Syria, if international law allows and so long as the relationship with the bilateral partner is mutually beneficial.

Diplomatically, it is not entirely clear if these mechanisms translate into being an effective middle-man between the U.S. and China on potentially heated topics that my arise from an increased presence of the U.S. in the Asia Pacific region. The lack of coordination on efforts in Syria, Iran, Israel, and other regions raises questions on how effective a partner Russia can be. Also, countries around the world recognize that Russia’s own political stability has an impact on worldwide economic and diplomatic power. Russia’scurrent internal political turmoil potentially jeopardizes the future of Russia’s stability mechanisms; if there is another large public outcry following the presidential elections, the resulting fallout could lead to a tumultuous time in Russian politics and disrupt the balance of power worldwide. In an instant, Russia can go from being a stabilizing factor in the Asia Pacific to a destabilizing factor. Thus, Russian officials have a strong incentive to maintain consistency in internal power structures and to quiet the political opposition.

US wants India to play significant role in Asia Pacific

Πηγή: Hindustantimes
Nov 23 2011

Welcoming India's "Look East policy", a top White House official has said that the Obama Administration wants New Delhi to play a significant role in the Asia Pacific region.

"The President very much welcomes India's Look East approach. We believe that just as the United States,
as a Pacific Ocean power, is going to be deeply engaged in the future of East Asia, so should India as an Indian Ocean power and as an Asian nation," deputy national security advisor for Strategic Communication Ben Rhodes said.

"So one of the reasons, for instance, that we believe the East Asia Summit should be the principal strategic forum in the region is because it brings India into the equation as well as United States, as well as Russia, so that in addition to having the East Asian nations, ASEAN nations, that we believe it's very important to have both India, the United States, also Russia at the table for those discussions," he said.

Rhodes was responding to questions from foreign journalists at the Washington Foreign Press center at a special briefing on the recent Asia visit of US President Barack Obama.

At Bali in Indonesia, Obama met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the first after the last November's India visit.

"In the bilateral meeting that the President had with Prime Minister Singh, they were able to discuss a range of bilateral issues, but they also discussed, again, their commitment to the region, some of the shared principles that we have on issues like maritime security and nonproliferation and disaster relief, which were our top agenda items," Rhodes said.

"So we very much want India to play a significant role in the region, and frankly, that's part of the reason why we have been so focused on empowering the East Asia Summit as a venue for strategic-level discussions in addition to economic discussions," said the top White House official.

During his recent Asia trip, Obama had a very comprehensive engagement with India and China.

"Our relationship with emerging powers, which we see as critical to recognising the way in which the Asia Pacific region is changing.

"And to that end, we've had very, very comprehensive engagement with China and India from the beginning of the Administration, many different high-level visits and exchanges, a deepening of the context between the US Government and the Chinese and Indian Government," Rhodes said.