The US navy has taken "a lot of actions" to address China's military buildup in the Taiwan Strait and efforts to deter the US from coming to Taiwan's aid, the Bush administration's nominee for deputy defense secretary said during his confirmation hearing on Tuesday.
Gordon England, whom US President George W. Bush has nominated to fill the post vacated by Paul Wolfowitz to become president of the World Bank, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he was concerned with the recent buildup, which has included ship and aircraft purchases and missile capability.
Asked during his confirmation hearing by James Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican, about the buildup, England said, "I do share that concern. Obviously, the navy's taken a lot of actions."
England, the Deputy Secretary for Homeland Security, was secretary of the navy from 2001 to 2003.
He would not discuss those "actions" publicly, but offered to meet with Inhofe in private to discuss what the navy had been doing to address the buildup.
"From a naval point of view, we are keenly aware of the actions being taken by China," England assured the committee.
"As a matter of policy, I understand your input and do not disagree with this, sir. Obviously it's an area of interest," England said.
England's comments are the latest in the string of expressions of concern over China's threat to Taiwan voiced by US military and intelligence officials before Congress, including CIA Director Porter Goss during his nomination hearing earlier this year.
Inhofe, one of the Senate's leading critics of China's military activities, drew heavily in his question from a lengthy speech he delivered on the Senate floor on April 4 on China's spreading global influence and military buildup, and the "imminent threat this poses to our national security."
In that speech, Inhofe noted China's increasing dependence on oil sources overseas, and said that Beijing's activities aimed to secure those sources.
China "is not looking only to build a blue-water navy to control the sea lanes, but also to develop undersea mines and missile capabilities to deter the potential disruption of its energy supplies from potential threats, including the US navy, especially in the case of a conflict with Taiwan," he said.
Inhofe said there was recent intelligence that China is accelerating production of amphibious assault ships, he said.
"It plans to build 23 new boats capable of ferrying tanks and troops across the Taiwan Strait. This development is potentially destabilizing and has alarming implications," he said.
"We have to keep in mind they now are buying this capacity to get across to Taiwan after -- for the first time -- coming out and directly threatening Taiwan," he said, in a reference to China's newly-enacted "Anti-Secession" Law.
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