US admiral says China is Asia's biggest long-term threat

By Brad Lendon

The US admiral expected to become the country's next ambassador to South Korea says North Korea remains the most imminent threat to peace in the Pacific but China's "dream of hegemony" is Washington's biggest long-term challenge.
Adm. Harry Harris spoke Wednesday as he turned over the reins of the US Pacific Command to Adm. Phil Davidson at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in a ceremony that also announced the rebranding of US military assets in the region to the US Indo-Pacific Command.
Harris, who has been at the helm of the most expansive US military command for three years, hammered home points he's made repeatedly during his term.

Adm. Phil Davidson, left, relieves Adm. Harry Harris, right, as commander of US Indo-Pacific Command during a ceremony at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Wednesday.

"North Korea remains our most imminent threat and a nuclear-capable North Korea with missiles that can reach the United States is unacceptable," he said.
However he added, "China remains our biggest long-term challenge. Without focused involvement and engagement by the United States and our allies and partners China will realize its dream of hegemony in Asia."
It is unclear what role Harris will play in talks with North Korea leading up to a hoped-for summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12. 

Harris' nomination went to the Senate on May 18 ahead of his expected confirmation.
US rebrands Pacific command amid tensions with China

The admiral had been Trump's choice for to fill the vacant ambassador post in Australia, but that nomination was pulled hours before his confirmation hearing in April. 

Sources told CNN at the time that the move was the idea of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has been instrumental in laying the groundwork for a Trump-Kim summit.
While Harris has always been a hawk on North Korea during his term at Pacific Command, he has also issued warnings on China as Beijing has pursued a more muscular military posture in the Pacific and established a military presence on man-made islands in areas the US and its allies contend are international waters.
Harris was still in charge of Pacific Command last week when it pulled an invitation for China to participate in the 2018 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) military exercise, the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise.
US officials said that decision was made after Beijing's recent deployment of missile systems and the first landing of a Chinese bomber on an island in the South China Sea.

US plans 'steady drumbeat' of exercises in South China Sea, Mattis says

Standing alongside Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at a news conference in Washington on May 23, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called the US decision "unhelpful."
In Hawaii Wednesday, Mattis said, "we should cooperate with Beijing where we can but stand ready to confront them where we must."
The admiral and future ambassador also warned his successors to keep an eye on Moscow, saying Russia is trying to act as "the spoiler" in the Indo-Pacific.
"A geopolitical competition between free and repressive visions of world order is taking place in the Indo-Pacific," Harris said.
"Great power competition is back and I believe we're approaching an inflection point in history.... Freedom and justice hang in the balance."

Chinese Aggressions

Incoming US Pacific Command chief wants to increase presence near China
By Mike Yeo

Fishermen on board a small boat pass by the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Carl Vinson at anchor off Manila, Philippines on Feb. 17, 2018. 

MELBOURNE, Australia ― The nominee to be the next chief of the U.S. forces in the Pacific has called for an increase in U.S. forces from all three services stationed in the vital region, adding that China is now effectively able to control the South China Sea and challenge the U.S. presence in the region.
In his testimony at last week’s Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing, Adm. Philip Davidson also said he will work to recalibrate U.S. force posture in the Indo-Pacific region to align with the recently released 2018 National Defense Strategy, an effort he said “entails ensuring the continued combat readiness of assigned forces in the western Pacific (and) developing an updated footprint that accounts for China’s rapid modernization.”
Davidson, who has been nominated to take over U.S. Pacific Command, or PACOM, also said the strategic and operational environment outlined in the NDS clearly identifies the importance of developing and fielding a force posture that is capable of “countering Chinese malign influence in the region,” while describing actions in the South China Sea such as the One Belt One Road Initiative as China executing its own deliberate and thoughtful force posture initiatives.
Due to the distances involved in the Indo-Pacific, Davidson stressed that the U.S. cannot solely rely on surge forces from the continental United States to deter Chinese aggression or prevent a fait accompli. 

He also said PACOM must maintain a robust, blunt layer that effectively deters Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific.

U.S. Navy Adm. Philip Davidson, the incoming PACOM chief, is shown addressing Marines and sailors during a joint promotion and re-enlistment ceremony on May 27, 2016. 

However, he added there is insufficient forward-deployed and rotational forces from all three services in PACOM’s area of responsibility, or AOR, and the current force structure and presence does “not sufficiently counter the threats in the Indo-Pacific.”
He specifically noted that PACOM only has a quarter of its required intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability in its AOR, although he declined to go into further details of the ISR shortfall, instead saying “the shortfalls are identified and have been highlighted in PACOM’s regular contacts with the Joint Staff.”
Additional requirements for the AOR include command-and-control capabilities, as well as the “integration of long-range, high-speed, lethal, survivable and precision munitions capabilities in ships, submarines, patrol craft, land-based formations, bombers and fighters.” 

These, combined with robust numbers of fifth-generation platforms and the necessary tankers and transports, will provide U.S. forces an advantage in a denied environment in the near term, the officer explained.
Davidson also touched on the continuing effort to field a new generation of weapons such as the Conventional Prompt Global Strike long-range hypersonic weapons, which he said “will help meet military requirements in PACOM” by expanding the competitive space and by taking on adversaries in areas where the U.S. possesses advantages and adversaries lack strength.
Still, he cautioned that China has already been doing the same by weaponizing space and improving its ballistic missile technology and cyber capabilities.
The state of follow-on forces to be deployed to the AOR in the event of a conflict was also an area of worry, with Davidson expressing concern about the manning, training and equipping of U.S. follow-on forces. 

He emphasized that continuing resolutions, delayed appropriations and sequestration stemming from the budget impasse directly impacts the size and speed of a military response.

Chinese Aggressions

US sets schedule for patrols in South China Sea for the first time, plans to increase operations

By Nirmal Ghosh

Construction is shown on Mischief Reef, in the Spratly Islands, the disputed South China Sea in this March 11, 2017, satellite image released by CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Inititative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Construction is shown on Fiery Cross Reef, in the Spratly Islands, the disputed South China Sea in this June 16, 2017 satellite image released by CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

WASHINGTON -- The US Pacific Command has for the first time developed a schedule for naval patrols in the South China Sea, with freedom of navigation operations (FONOPS) two or three times over the next few months, a report said on Friday (Sept 1), quoting unnamed US officials.
This would mark a considered approach to FONOPS in the disputed South China Sea, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

China claims the maritime zone virtually in its entirety, but Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines also have claims there.
China has called previous FONOPS by the US provocative. 

There have been three so far under President Donald Trump, and four under the previous Barack Obama administration.
China reacted sharply to a US patrol on July 2, when the American destroyer USS Stethem passed within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island in the Paracels chain. 

The destroyer had “trespassed” China’s territorial waters, China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. 

But Admiral Harry Harris, chief of the US Pacific Command, has publicly favoured more FONOPS.
The last such operation was conducted on Aug 10 near Mischief Reef, one of several features in the Spratlys chain that had been fortified by China. 

In that operation, the destroyer USS John McCain was accompanied by two P-8 Poseidon maritime reconnaissance aircraft, officials told the Wall Street Journal, adding that air support may be a regular feature of future FONOPS.
Notwithstanding an apparently warm start to the personal relationship between President Trump and Xi Jinping, China and the US are still feeling their way in a relationship which under Mr Trump, has become prickly over the issue of trade and North Korea.
The US wants to cut its trade deficit with China, and also wants Beijing to lean on North Korea to pressure the Pyongyang regime to curb its nuclear and missile programmes – and Mr Trump has linked the two issues.
Meanwhile on Thursday, Vietnam objected to Chinese drills in the Gulf of Tonkin, just north of the South China Sea. 

In a statement, Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Thi Thu Hang said “Vietnam proposes China to cease and refrain from repeating acts that complicate the situation in the East Sea (South China Sea).”

In July, China had pressured Hanoi to suspend oil drilling in waters also claimed by China.

Chinese Peril: FBI & US Pacific Command Full of Chinese Spies

According to a report of the Congressional Committee, Chinese agents actively operate in the US national security system, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US Pacific Command (USPACOM).
southfront.org

Chinese agents are planted in the US national security system, the Washington Free Beacon informational website reported, citing a report of the profile Congressional Committee. 

According to the website, these agents have already stolen confidential data on plans of the Pentagon in the event of a conflict with China.
As the article reads, the data of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the US Pacific Command (USPACOM) have been obtained by the Chinese agents.
The piece even specifies the person – a contractual employee of the USPACOM, retired colonel Ben Pierce Bishop. 

This story became known about 2 years ago. 

At that time, Bishop admitted that he was in a relationship with a Chinese woman and were sending her some secret data about USPACOM activities. 

It turned out that China received the data on the US deployment of nuclear weapons aimed at China and the military strategy against China, as well as the documents on the US MQ-9 Reaper drone.
The article also mentions the name of a FBI employee, who was passing valuable information to China, – a representative of the Department of Information Technology, Joey Chun. 

According to Washington Free Beacon, he has acknowledged the fact of transmission of data on technological approach of the FBI in the area of surveillance to Beijing.
The piece notes that about 5.6 million fingerprints were handed over to Beijing. 

These fingerprints can be used to identify US agents, working undercover in China.
A full report on Chinese agents in the US will be released in mid-November.