very nice finds..i also found this today quoting Gates:
At the same time, the United States virtually joined the fray, with US Defense Secretary Robert Gates in Singapore, warning Saturday that clashes may erupt in the South China Sea unless nations with conflicting territorial claims adopt a mechanism to settle disputes peacefully.
“There are increasing concerns. I think we should not lose any time in trying to strengthen these mechanisms that I’ve been talking about for dealing with competing claims in the South China Sea,” he said.
“I fear that without rules of the road, without agreed approaches to deal with these problems, that there will be clashes. I think that serves nobody’s interests,” Gates told a security conference in Singapore.
Gates also vowed that the US military would maintain a “robust” presence across Asia backed up with new high-tech weaponry to protect allies and safeguard shipping lanes.Seeking to reassure Asian allies mindful of China’s growing power and Washington’s fiscal troubles, Gates told a security conference in Singapore that Washington’s commitment to the region would not be scaled back.
Instead, the US military will expand its presence in Southeast Asia, sharing facilities with Australia in the Indian Ocean and deploying new littoral combat ships (LCS) to Singapore, where it has access to naval facilities, he said.
The LCS is a speedy, lighter ship designed to operate in shallow coastal waters.
Gates, who steps down at the end of the month after more than four years as Pentagon chief, said the US military planned to deepen its engagement with countries across the Pacific, with more port calls and training programs.
An earlier report said that the US has already deployed the Pearl Harbor-based missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon to the western Pacific amid the escalating tension between China and its neighbors over the disputed Spratys.
Gates said that the US military will be positioned in a way “that maintains our presence in Northeast Asia while enhancing our presence in Southeast Asia and into the Indian Ocean.”
The speech came as countries facing a rising China watch the United States for signs of its long-term security plans in Asia, amid mounting disputes over territorial rights in the potentially resource-rich South China Sea.
“The US position on maritime security remains clear: we have a national interest in freedom of navigation; in unimpeded economic development and commerce; and in respect for international law,” Gates said.
Citing investments in new radar-evading aircraft, surveillance drones, warships and space and cyber weapons, Gates said the United Sates is “putting our money where our mouth is with respect to this part of the world — and will continue to do so.”
The planned weapons programs represented “capabilities most relevant to preserving the security, sovereignty, and freedom of our allies and partners in the region,” he said.
The programs also include maintaining America’s nuclear “deterrence” amid continuing concern over North Korea’s atomic weapons.
Senior US officers have long pointed to China’s military buildup, saying Beijing’s pursuit of anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles as well as cyber warfare capabilities pose a potential threat to US naval power in the region.
Without naming China, Gates said the new hardware was a response to “the prospect that new and disruptive technologies and weapons could be employed to deny US forces access to key sea routes and lines of communications.”Although the Pentagon’s budget would come under growing scrutiny and military spending in some areas would be cut back, Gates predicted that investments in the key “modernization” programs would be left untouched.
“These programs are on track to grow and evolve further in the future, even in the face of new threats abroad and fiscal challenges at home.”
This would ensure “that we will continue to meet our commitments as a 21st century Asia-Pacific nation — with appropriate forces, posture, and presence”, he said.
Looking back on US policy in Asia since he took over at the Pentagon in 2006, Gates said the military had bolstered ties with old allies, such as Japan and South Korea, as well with new partners, including India and Vietnam.
The speech reflected how Washington has sought to strike a delicate balance between countering a more assertive Chinese military with a bigger presence in the region while seeking to defuse tensions through dialog and exchanges.
Gates, who held talks with his Chinese counterpart Liang Guanglie on Friday, said efforts to promote a security dialogue with China had borne fruit and that military relations had “steadily improved in recent months.”
The islands at the center of the long-running dispute are the Paracel archipelago and the more southerly Spratlys, both potentially resource-rich outcrops that straddle strategic shipping lanes.
China, the Philippines, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam have laid claim to overlapping sections of the territories.
Gates called on the countries involved to build upon a 2002 agreement between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China setting a “code of conduct” aimed at resolving disputes peacefully.
Diplomatic tensions have risen in recent weeks following allegations of increased Chinese activity in the area.
Manila had also earlier queried Beijing over plans reported in Chinese state media to install an oil rig in the area.
The Chinese embassy in Manila on Thursday denied that Chinese naval vessels had intruded on Philippine territory, while reiterating Beijing’s territorial sovereignty over the disputed South China Sea areas.
Manila says the incidents happened in an area of the South China Sea just outside the Spratlys, a reputedly oil-rich island chain which is disputed by six countries.
In May, Chinese ships confronted a Vietnamese oil exploration vessel between the Paracels and the Spratlys.
The renewed tensions drew a warning Saturday by the United States, the region’s dominant naval power that is militarily allied with the Philippines, that the myriad territorial disputes could lead to armed conflict.
