US On China: Cooperate Where We Can, Confront Where We Must

US On China: Cooperate Where We Can, Confront Where We Must
US On China: Cooperate Where We Can, Confront Where We Must

SINGAPORE: In his speech to the Shangri-La Dialogue here, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter laid out a cautious and carefully crafted vision for security in Asia. Carter called for an “inclusive (and) principled security network,” one that would try to include China and encourage it to abide by international law, rather than seeking to confront and…

Why Bombers Are Key to Nuke Modernization; Think Russia, North Korea, China

Why Bombers Are Key to Nuke Modernization; Think Russia, North Korea, China
Why Bombers Are Key to Nuke Modernization; Think Russia, North Korea, China

  Opponents of nuclear modernization worry that the presidential elections this year could end their hopes of killing a number of nuclear modernization programs—such as the Long Range Stand-Off cruise missile (LRSO) and the B-61 Mod 12 life extension program. Unfortunately for nuclear minimalists and abolitionists, President Obama has been true to his word and continued to support nuclear…

China Seeks ‘Hegemony’ in Asia: Adm. Harris, PACOM

China Seeks ‘Hegemony’ in Asia: Adm. Harris, PACOM
China Seeks ‘Hegemony’ in Asia: Adm. Harris, PACOM

WASHINGTON: The gloves came off during today’s Senate Armed Services committee hearing on China and North Korea with Pacific Command’s Adm. Harry Harris saying that China seeks “hegemony in East Asia” and is unequivocally militarizing the South China Sea. “In my opinion, China is clearly militarizing its position in the South China Sea. You’d have to believe…

US Will Push Chinese Harder On Territorial Claims: PACOM

US Will Push Chinese Harder On Territorial Claims: PACOM
US Will Push Chinese Harder On Territorial Claims: PACOM

UPDATE: USS Wilbur sails through Paracel Islands Friday WASHINGTON: The United States will keep challenging Chinese claims in the South China Sea, the head of Pacific Command said this afternoon. Such Freedom of Navigation operations will grow in frequency, complexity, and scope, said Adm. Harry Harris. And Harris defended the first such FON operation” since 2012, last October’s cruise of the…

US Hasn’t Challenged Chinese ‘Islands’ Since 2012

US Hasn’t Challenged Chinese ‘Islands’ Since 2012
US Hasn’t Challenged Chinese ‘Islands’ Since 2012

UPDATED: Adds House Letter To White House CAPITOL HILL: Defense officials acknowledged today that the US has not directly challenged the sovereignty of China’s artificial islands in the South China Sea for at least three years. US aircraft have not flown over the artificial islets. Nor have US ships sailed within 12 nautical miles of one…

Carter To China: US ‘Will Fly, Sail, Operate Wherever Law Allows’

Carter To China: US ‘Will Fly, Sail, Operate Wherever Law Allows’
Carter To China: US ‘Will Fly, Sail, Operate Wherever Law Allows’

WASHINGTON: Defense Secretary Ash Carter, in a speech billed as all about a new personnel approach for the Pentagon, laid out a clear line in the sand of the temporary islands the Chinese have been building. He reiterated his “deep concern” about  “China’s pace and scope of land reclamation in the South China Sea.” Then he let…

Forbes: White House Has No China Strategy; Here’s Mine

Forbes: White House Has No China Strategy; Here’s Mine
Forbes: White House Has No China Strategy; Here’s Mine

WASHINGTON: What’s the strategy for coping with what everyone on Capitol Hill and inside the Obama administration agrees is an increasingly assertive China? The White House can’t answer, Rep. Randy Forbes says, “because they don’t have it.” So, it’s fair to ask: what is Forbes’s strategy, then? The House seapower chairman’s outline for a “winning strategy” boils down…