The top US military commander in Asia, Admiral Timothy Keating, on Monday described as "troublesome" China's developments of weapons intended to deny US forces access to areas such as the Taiwan Strait, saying that such weapons "exceed" Beijing's contention that its rapid military buildup program is only defensive.
Without mentioning the Strait, and phrasing his comments in a very careful and circumspect way, Keating talked about the People's Republic of China's (PRC) weapons aimed to deny US forces' access to "certain areas on the sea, in the air, or under the sea," a clear reference to Chinese advances in submarines, missiles, aircraft and warships.
Keating made his comments in response to questions by reporters after a speech on security in the Asia-Pacific region at an Asia Society luncheon in Washington.
PHOTO: CNA
Couching his remarks carefully in words that are "standardly public," but which he said are backed by secret intelligence, Keating complained that "China is developing, fielding and has in place weapons that could be characterized as having amongst, perhaps, other purposes, the ability to restrict movement in and around certain areas on the sea, in the air, or under the sea."
The question about such weaponry, Keating said, is "not just the fact that these weapons exist -- we know they exist -- it's why are they being fielded."
"The PRC says, `we only want to protect those things that are ours.' We find it troubling that the capabilities of some of these weapons systems would tend to exceed our own expectations for protecting those things that are `ours,'" he said.
Keating said that the Chinese leaders he met during a trip to China last May said that the military buildup was aimed only to protect what is "ours," and does not have any expansionist or aggressive purposes.
His comments echoed those of last summer's report by the Pentagon on China's military programs that found that a key aim of its military buildup was to deny the US the ability to come to Taipei's aid in case of Chinese military aggression against Taiwan.
Keating also issued a veiled warning to China not to repeat an incident that occurred in October 2006, when a Chinese Song-class diesel-powered attack submarine surfaced within 8km of the Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier and its task force in the Pacific, warning that such an encounter could result in armed conflict.
Asked by a Taiwanese reporter about Beijing's submarine development efforts, Keating said: "We watch carefully the development of tactics, techniques and procedures by countries in the region, including China."
"When a Chinese submarine surfaces within sight of a United States aircraft carrier ... situations could develop where if it's night and the weather is bad and there's an increased state of tension," Keating said.
"I'm not suggesting there will be, but if there is increased tension for whatever reason, and a submarine comes up close to your ship, you might begin to take actions which could lead to possibly some sort of circumstances," he said.
He used the incident to underscore his and the Pentagon's long held demand that China be more transparent about its military buildup and its intentions.
"If we understand intentions, not just that they are transparent," he said, "we are convinced that the likelihood of misunderstanding that could lead to confusion, that could lead to crisis, it could lead to conflict, we think the likelihood is much lower."
Discussing his trip to China earlier this month, in which Taiwan came up in all his meetings with top military and civilian officials, Keating said that in each of those meetings "the tone was less strident, less confrontational" than his first visit there as US Pacific commander.
He credited this to the fact that "they know us a little better, they've heard the homily, the sermon before."
"It helps us to be able to repeat with accuracy that the United States has had the same policy with respect to China and Taiwan since 1979. So the People's Republic of China, I believe, understands our position better today than they did 10 months ago," he said.
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