31 May 2008: Bloomberg
SINGAPORE: Defense Secretary Robert Gates told an Asian security conference that the U.S. will remain heavily engaged in the Asia-Pacific region no matter who is elected president in November.
With many nations looking past the end of the Bush administration and toward its successor, Gates said any new president will maintain the ``overlapping, long-standing security partnerships'' that have defined the U.S. approach in the region.
``Any future U.S. administration's Asia security policy is going to be grounded in the fact that the United States remains a nation with strong and enduring interests in this region -- interests that will endure no matter which political party occupies the White House next,'' Gates said.
In his remarks to the conference, known as the ``Shangri-La Dialogue'' after the name of the Singapore hotel where it takes place each year, Gates said the entire Asia-Pacific region has benefited from U.S. involvement.
``The security of all Asian countries -- whether large or small -- is strongly and positively enhanced by a strong U.S. presence,'' said Gates, 64. ``In all instances, our involvement enables our friends in Asia to have more choice with their security policy decisions.''
Involvement to Continue
That involvement would continue, Gates said, even though the U.S. remains heavily engaged in pursuing two simultaneous wars in the Middle East and Central Asia.
``For those who worry that Iraq and Afghanistan have distracted the United States from Asia and developments here, I would counter that we have never been more engaged with more countries.''
Gates avoided any direct criticism of China, a theme that his predecessor as defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, voiced in a speech at the same conference in 2005.
Gates spoke of America's ``increasing engagement'' with China and noted that the U.S. drive to contain North Korean nuclear ambitions relied on China's ``valued cooperation.''
The only China criticism was oblique; without mentioning any nation by name, Gates urged countries engaging in military modernization to be more open about their aims, a reference to long-standing U.S. demands of China.
Satellite Shoot-Down
Gates also spoke about the U.S.'s ``open manner'' and advance notification in shooting down a dysfunctional space satellite in February. That was an indirect reference to U.S. criticism of China's similar January 2007 destruction of a weather satellite without warning others.
Gates was equally indirect in mentioning China's increasing energy demands and its lingering disputes with other Asian nations over ``territorial and resource claims'' in the South China Sea as potential security concerns.
``In my Asian travels, I hear my hosts worry about the security implications of rising demand for resources, and about coercive diplomacy and other pressures that can lead to disruptive competitions,'' Gates said, without naming any countries.
The highest-ranking Chinese official at the conference, General Ma Xiaotian, who followed Gates to the podium, also used indirect language in criticizing aspects of American policy.
Without mentioning the U.S., Ma condemned as destabilizing the Bush administration's efforts to develop missile defense systems in Europe and Asia.
China's Military
``To develop and deploy a missile defense system and to engage in missile defense cooperation in some areas in the world is not helpful in strategic governance, confidence-building and strategic stability,'' said Ma, the deputy chief of the Chinese military's general staff, speaking through an interpreter.
Ma defended China's military modernization campaign as an appropriate response to the country's legitimate security needs in the face of ``terrorism, ethnic separatism and religious extremism.'' He said China was prepared to increase military-to- military exchanges with all countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
Gates deliberately sought to avoid anti-Chinese rhetoric in an effort to avoid the confrontational atmosphere that prevailed in past such conferences, said a senior U.S. defense official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.
Gates's basic message to China was that the region is increasingly governed by an interlocking system of relationships and rules, and that China should embrace that system as its power grows, the official said.
U.S. Transition
The reality of the forthcoming U.S. political transition is personified at the conference by the presence of Senator Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut independent who was the 2000 Democratic vice-presidential candidate and this year is backing presumptive Republican nominee John McCain.
Foreign-policy issues are at the center of the emerging campaign debate between McCain and the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, Barack Obama, although Asia has not figured prominently as yet.
Lieberman, speaking during a question-and-answer session that followed Gates's remarks, said he agreed with the secretary that there is bipartisan support in the U.S. for remaining involved in the Asia-Pacific region. ``We are committed here as far forward as the eye can see,'' Lieberman said.
At the same time, Lieberman said he was troubled by the ``unsettling growth of economic protectionism'' in campaign and congressional debates.
While Lieberman didn't mention Obama by name, the Illinois senator has criticized existing free-trade agreements as unfair to U.S. interests and has opposed as ``misguided'' a pending trade deal between the U.S. and South Korea. Obama's rival for the Democratic nomination, Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, has also criticized previous trade pacts.
Diplomatic Outreach
McCain, a senator from Arizona, has campaigned as a supporter of such trade agreements.
Obama has also advocated greater U.S. diplomatic outreach to adversaries such as Iran and North Korea, saying he is willing to meet personally with their leaders. McCain has condemned that approach as naïve.
Lieberman, in an opinion article co-authored with McCain that appeared in the Straits Times newspaper May 29, addressed that difference, while not mentioning Obama by name.
``We must never squander the trust of our allies and the respect for our highest office by promising that the president will embark on an open-ended, unconditional personal negotiation with a dictator responsible for running an international criminal enterprise, a covert nuclear weapons programme and a massive system of gulags,'' Lieberman and McCain wrote.
North Korea Talks
In fact, the Bush administration -- although not President George W. Bush personally -- has been involved in long-running negotiations with North Korea aimed at persuading that state to give up its nuclear weapons program.
And Gates told the conferees that he expects policy continuity whatever the election results.
``The next U.S. administration seems certain to continue the overlapping, long-standing, security partnerships that I outlined,'' he said. ``It will also inherit an agenda of worrying issues. This means no change in our drive to temper North Korea's ambitions.''
Answering a question after his speech, Gates added that he believes any future U.S. president will maintain a strong military to protect the country's interests in Asia, as well as Europe and the Middle East.
``There is no one that I am aware of in the American political arena who does not attach a high priority to our relationships in Asia,'' Gates said.
< © 2008 Bloomberg L.P. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.>
Go to Shangri-La Dialogue homepage
