With America’s “Thousand-Ship Navy” Who is Getting Pulled Along?

[unhappycamper]

http://watchingamerica.com/WA/2014/09/20/with-americas-thousand-ship-navy-who-is-getting-pulled-along/

America believes that if it allows its hegemonic status in Asia to become unstable, it will naturally trigger a global chain reaction of challenges to its power.

With America’s “Thousand-Ship Navy” Who is Getting Pulled Along?
Published in Huanqiu (China) on 4 September 2014 by Gao Feng [link to original]
Translated from Chinese by Joe Matthews.
Edited by Eva Langman.
Posted on September 20, 2014.

U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Jonathan Greenert believes that the growth of the Chinese navy is forcing other nations to expand their power to resist. He said it is reasonable to discuss putting together a “thousand-ship navy” which could include India, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Australia, South Korea, the Philippines and other countries. The navy would take ships and resources from each country in order to preserve existing maritime global trade networks.

America’s concerns regarding Chinese strategy stem from two areas: First, China’s expanding economic power and influence is causing America to become marginalized in the political and economic landscape of the West Pacific region; secondly, due to China’s economic development, the U.S. is searching for a new identity consistent with its economic and military strength. With these two models of development considered together, America is feeling an unprecedented threat to its ability to maintain control—act as hegemonic power—in the region.

Actually, if it is already true that America can’t rely on its own strength to contain the rise of China, then creating a new great power relationship with China would already be considered a compromise with China by hawks in America. This has led to disagreeing views on how to deal with the rise of China, and it will be difficult for American leaders to reach a consensus. America believes that if it allows its hegemonic status in Asia to become unstable, it will naturally trigger a global chain reaction of challenges to its power.

In reality, there are already challenges to America in the Middle East and South Asia, as well as in Eastern Europe and Ukraine. If it stubbornly seeks to continue to constrain China, then it will find it quite difficult to ward off what would be a “three-pronged” attack. In particular, new problems in Ukraine have led to general problems in Russia-U.S. relations, and is already being dubbed a beginning of a “new Cold War.” Compared with this latest issue, territorial sovereignty issues in the West Pacific have relatively little importance to America’s status as a global hegemonic power. Even now, when events in Ukraine are entering a passive phase, America continues to speak wildly about inhibiting Chinese strategic ambitions—ignoring the important while emphasizing the trivial—and propagating clearly wild suspicions.