Gates reassures Asia of U.S. military commitment

Despite mounting pressure to cut the U.S. Defense budget, the Pentagon is investing in new weapons systems, expanding military alliances and formulating a combat doctrine to counter a modernizing China and other potential rivals in Asia, according to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates.

On the first stop of a round-the-world farewell tour before he retires at the end of the month, Gates sought to reassure allies and warn adversaries that the United States would not pull back forces from the Pacific Rim or scale back its military commitments.

U.S. officials are concerned that some Asian governments could tilt toward China if they believe that America is reconsidering its long-term support or military presence in the region.

“Irrespective of the tough times the U.S. faces today, or the tough budget choices we confront in the coming years… America’s interests as a Pacific nation, as a country that conducts much of its trade in the region, will endure,” Gates said, according to the text of a policy address released before he spoke here Saturday.

“New and disruptive technologies and weapons could be employed to deny U.S. forces access to key sea routes and lines of communications,” he warned.

Gates’ address at the Asia Security Summit, an annual gathering of regional defense officials, also appeared aimed at warning Congress and the White House about the dangers of cutting military spending too deeply or sharply reducing the U.S. presence in Asia.

In April, President Obama proposed trimming the Defense budget by $400 billion over 12 years. Obama has nominated CIA Director Leon E. Panetta, a former California congressman who headed the House Budget Committee and was budget director in the Clinton administration, to replace Gates. Some analysts say Panetta may be more amenable to military cuts.

Gates said he has reduced unnecessary and wasteful weapons programs in the last two years to make money available for ships, planes and other technology needed to deter U.S adversaries, especially in Asia.

The Pentagon chief met privately for an hour Friday with his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Liang Guanglie. The two last met in January when Gates visited Beijing.

Liang is the first Chinese defense minister to attend Asia’s preeminent security conference, and his presence was viewed as a sign of Beijing’s new assertiveness and growing military capabilities. He is scheduled to give a keynote address Sunday; Gates will have left by then.

Beijing temporarily suspended military ties with the U.S. last year after Washington announced more than $6 billion in weapons sales to Taiwan. China considers Taiwan, which broke from the mainland’s Communist government in 1949, as a territory awaiting reunification.

“As I leave office later this month, I do so believing that our military relationship is on a more positive trajectory,” Gates told Liang at the start of their meeting. Liang said he also believed the relationship was improving.

Behind closed doors, signs of tension were more apparent, aides said.

Liang complained to Gates about “voices” in the United States that exaggerate China’s military threat, and reiterated Beijing’s opposition to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, according to a senior U.S. official. Gates responded that hard-liners in China similarly overstate the U.S. threat, the official said.

China is not trying to match U.S. military might, but has focused on developing antisatellite weapons, antiship missiles and other systems aimed at overcoming the U.S. edge in aircraft carriers and other weapons systems, Gates told reporters on his flight to Singapore.

Gates said the U.S. is building sophisticated new weapons to counter the potential threat. In addition, he said, the Navy and Air Force are developing a combat doctrine to help guide the U.S. in fighting “over great distances in defense of our allies and vital interests.”

Since the 1970s, the U.S. has focused its forces and attention in Asia on Japan and South Korea, but the Pentagon is reviewing that alignment. It is in talks with Australia and Singapore to arrange more military exchanges, exercises and ship, aircraft and troop rotations, as part of a shift in Pentagon attention to potential flashpoints in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean.

david.cloud@latimes.com