The top US military commander in Asia, Admiral Timothy Keating, on Monday described as "troublesome" China's developments of weapons intended to deny US forces access to areas such as the Taiwan Strait, saying that such weapons "exceed" Beijing's contention that its rapid military buildup program is only defensive.
Without mentioning the Strait, and phrasing his comments in a very careful and circumspect way, Keating talked about the People's Republic of China's (PRC) weapons aimed to deny US forces' access to "certain areas on the sea, in the air, or under the sea," a clear reference to Chinese advances in submarines, missiles, aircraft and warships.
Keating made his comments in response to questions by reporters after a speech on security in the Asia-Pacific region at an Asia Society luncheon in Washington.
PHOTO: CNA
Couching his remarks carefully in words that are "standardly public," but which he said are backed by secret intelligence, Keating complained that "China is developing, fielding and has in place weapons that could be characterized as having amongst, perhaps, other purposes, the ability to restrict movement in and around certain areas on the sea, in the air, or under the sea."
The question about such weaponry, Keating said, is "not just the fact that these weapons exist -- we know they exist -- it's why are they being fielded."
"The PRC says, `we only want to protect those things that are ours.' We find it troubling that the capabilities of some of these weapons systems would tend to exceed our own expectations for protecting those things that are `ours,'" he said.
Keating said that the Chinese leaders he met during a trip to China last May said that the military buildup was aimed only to protect what is "ours," and does not have any expansionist or aggressive purposes.
His comments echoed those of last summer's report by the Pentagon on China's military programs that found that a key aim of its military buildup was to deny the US the ability to come to Taipei's aid in case of Chinese military aggression against Taiwan.
Keating also issued a veiled warning to China not to repeat an incident that occurred in October 2006, when a Chinese Song-class diesel-powered attack submarine surfaced within 8km of the Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier and its task force in the Pacific, warning that such an encounter could result in armed conflict.
Asked by a Taiwanese reporter about Beijing's submarine development efforts, Keating said: "We watch carefully the development of tactics, techniques and procedures by countries in the region, including China."
"When a Chinese submarine surfaces within sight of a United States aircraft carrier ... situations could develop where if it's night and the weather is bad and there's an increased state of tension," Keating said.
"I'm not suggesting there will be, but if there is increased tension for whatever reason, and a submarine comes up close to your ship, you might begin to take actions which could lead to possibly some sort of circumstances," he said.
He used the incident to underscore his and the Pentagon's long held demand that China be more transparent about its military buildup and its intentions.
"If we understand intentions, not just that they are transparent," he said, "we are convinced that the likelihood of misunderstanding that could lead to confusion, that could lead to crisis, it could lead to conflict, we think the likelihood is much lower."
Discussing his trip to China earlier this month, in which Taiwan came up in all his meetings with top military and civilian officials, Keating said that in each of those meetings "the tone was less strident, less confrontational" than his first visit there as US Pacific commander.
He credited this to the fact that "they know us a little better, they've heard the homily, the sermon before."
"It helps us to be able to repeat with accuracy that the United States has had the same policy with respect to China and Taiwan since 1979. So the People's Republic of China, I believe, understands our position better today than they did 10 months ago," he said.
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
NEW GEAR: On top of the new Tien Kung IV air defense missiles, the military is expected to place orders for a new combat vehicle next year for delivery in 2028 Mass production of Tien Kung IV (Sky Bow IV) missiles is expected to start next year, with plans to order 122 pods, the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) latest list of regulated military material showed. The document said that the armed forces would obtain 46 pods of the air defense missiles next year and 76 pods the year after that. The Tien Kung IV is designed to intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to an altitude of 70km, compared with the 60km maximum altitude achieved by the Missile Segment Enhancement variant of PAC-3 systems. A defense source said yesterday that the number of
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
Taiwanese exports to the US are to be subject to a 20 percent tariff starting on Thursday next week, according to an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday. The 20 percent levy was the same as the tariffs imposed on Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh by Trump. It was higher than the tariffs imposed on Japan, South Korea and the EU (15 percent), as well as those on the Philippines (19 percent). A Taiwan official with knowledge of the matter said it is a "phased" tariff rate, and negotiations would continue. "Once negotiations conclude, Taiwan will obtain a better
RSS