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US release new Asia strategy
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THE United States should craft "a new and integrated Asia strategy" based on beefing up its existing bilateral alliances, pursuing a balance of power among China, India and Russia and promoting an inclusive security dialogue among all Asian states, according to a US policy report released in Washington on Tuesday.
The report, entitled "The United States and Asia: Toward a New Strategy and Force Posture", also called for, among many other things, a southward shift of focus in US military deployment in East Asia to meet the changing security situation in the region.
The proposals came out of a new comprehensive RAND study sponsored by the US Air Force and directed by Zalmay Khalilzad, RAND's corporate chair in international security. Khalilzad joined the White House staff on Monday as special assistant to President Bush and senior director at the National Security Council.
Other proposed military adjustments included expanding access to bases in Southeast Asia and perhaps in South Asia and Oman as well, cultivating military-to-military ties with India, Pakistan and Indonesia as a means of mitigating bilateral conflicts and internal unrest, and encouraging security co-ordination among such core US partners as Japan, Australia and South Korea.
The report also suggested that Guam be built into a power projection hub in the west Pacific, new concepts developed for joint Air Force-Navy operations to maximize the leverage of their combined theatre forces, and greater emphasis given to longer-range combat platforms when planning future force structure.
The report said that America's China policy should reflect a well-hedged mix of engagement and containment tactics, with a clear opposition to Taiwan independence, but an equally clear declaration of US determination to come to Taipei's defence if China "invades" the island.
The Khalilzad report said that the overall US objective for Asia should be to fend off the increase of rivalries and insecurities that could lead to war. This, in turn, requires precluding the rise of "a regional hegemon", maintaining regional stability and managing Asia's transformation carefully, the report added.
On security issues, the report put forward a four-part strategy that embodied change as well as continuity. In the economic sphere, the report said, the United States should continue to expand its policies that support free trade and financial stability, and encourage Asian countries to join the World Trade Organization so that Asia's the economic growth could be further facilitated. (Xinhua)
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