WASHINGTON - The United States will not relinquish its influence in the Asia Pacific region. U.S. presence there, called the country as a balancing measure of the region, where China's rise as a world power are frequently conflicted
This policy is in accordance with United States Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter in Jakarta, Wednesday (20/3) is realized by increasing the military presence in the region. Still, he acknowledged the country's defense budget was reduced due to the economic crisis.
"It is true that the military budget was reduced due to economic stagnation, but the condition is only temporary so we are confident the policy rebalancing Asia Pacific can continue," said Ashton Carter on Wednesday.
Carter claimed the U.S. is responsible for keeping the peace Asia Pacific as has been done in the past. The U.S. military presence has made Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea can concentrate on building the economy so that the welfare of these countries increased.
"Our presence in Japan and South Korea in the past has made this country safer and thus sejahter," said Carter, who spoke in Jakarta International Defence Dialogue forum.
High economic growth in these countries was followed by increase in the military budget that, according to the version of the U.S. view, the security is under threat.
China alone will spend about 114 million U.S. dollars this year, up 10.7 percent from 2012. China's military budget increase comes amid dispute with Japan and some Southeast Asian countries over several islands in the South China Sea.
In the midst of that, Carter explained, the United States will increase its military presence in the Asia Pacific region.
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar