Admiral Timothy Keating, head of the US Pacific Command, said on Thursday in Washington that while he continued to closely monitor the Chinese military, he believed that tensions in the Taiwan Strait had been reduced over the last two months.
He said that while there had been some changes in China’s military posture toward Taiwan, those changes were not significant.
“We are pleased with the progress being made by China and Taiwan in reducing the tension across the Strait,” Keating said.
He added that, while there had been no great strategic shift, there had been a series of meaningful small developments, including China sending pandas to Taiwan, increased capability to send mail across the Strait and improved transportation links.
The admiral particularly stressed sociological changes where young men and women on both sides “are falling in love with one another and it’s increasingly easy to do so.”
“All of these recommend to us a decrease in tension across the strait and we are gratified by that decrease … That said, we still pay close attention to the Strait, as we do many other regions in our area,” Keating said.
Keating, probably the most important individual in the US military dealing on a daily basis with Taiwan’s security, stressed that the centerpiece of his policy in the region was “partnership, presence and military readiness.”
In a statement that may have been designed to reassure Taiwan, he said: “We want everybody in our area of responsibility to know that we’re committed to security, stability and prosperity. We are going to remain present and engaged throughout the area ... We want to emphasize to our friends and allies that we will be there in the years ahead, as we have been there for decades in the past. We want them to be confident and comfortable in our ability to respond across the entire spectrum of operations.”
When asked by Nadia Tsao of the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) about reports that China was building an aircraft carrier, Keating refused to confirm the development outright, but appeared to do so with a wink and a nod.
“If the Chinese choose to pursue aircraft carrier technology, we will monitor very carefully that development ... We would ask that they be increasingly transparent with us so we can understand their intentions,” Keating said.
The admiral said that he had told Chinese military leaders that the development of aircraft carriers could be seen by some as a threat.
“I don’t regard it as a threat today ... We are going to watch very carefully to make sure that it doesn’t become a threat,” he said.
But building a carrier was complex, demanding, dangerous and very expensive, Keating said.
“When I proposed to the Chinese an increased statement of intention, they came back and said: ‘Well, we only want to protect those things that are ours’ — which seems fair enough,” he said. “But so do we, so too do all of the countries who have access to the maritime domain.”
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