The Pentagon is moving strategic bombers to Guam and aircraft carriers and submarines to the Pacific as part of a new "hedge" strategy aimed at preparing for conflict with China, Pentagon officials said yesterday.
Peter Rodman, assistant defense secretary for international security affairs, told a congressional commission that the response to the emerging military threat from China is part of the White House national security strategy made public yesterday.
Although U.S. relations with China are good, "both sides understand very well that there is a potential for a conflict, particularly in the Taiwan Strait," Mr. Rodman said during a hearing of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.
China's arms buildup in recent years altered the U.S. "strategic calculus" for defending Taiwan from a mainland attack and shows that "a prudent hedging policy is essential," Mr. Rodman said.
The placement of about 700 Chinese missiles opposite Taiwan has changed the status quo between the non-communist island and the communist mainland, he said.
The Pentagon policy calls for watching China's military and "being ready to deal with it, if the worst case should happen," Mr. Rodman said.
[Taiwan] [US] [China]
1 comment:
Any armed forces feel happy to see their enemies building up armaments, because it gives them plausible excuses for buying new fighters, submarines and missiles. In a sense, the leaders of the China PLA might as well just thank the Pentagon, and vice versa.
China don't need to worry about made-in-USA arms in Taiwan. They might become the property of the PRC before long, just like the bullet trains Japan sold to Taiwan. Please let Taiwan buy freely the latest American weapons. It's the only way China can get them.
Sorry, just joking. I always support independent Taiwan.
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