Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China has a stake in the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. Photo: AP
China's controversial construction of militarised artificial islands in the South China Sea – dubbed the "great wall of sand" – has been self-defeating, says the US Navy commander whose sailors would be on the front line of any serious conflict.
US Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Scott Swift told Fairfax Media the "angst" China has generated has led East Asian nations from Australia to Japan to fortify their own defences and also to seek much deeper US military engagement.
But the Admiral dismissed speculation that either Australia or the US were seeking new "bases" or "infrastructure" in Darwin or Fremantle.
Admiral Scott Swift: The "angst" China has generated has led East Asian nations from Australia to Japan to fortify their own defences. Photo: John Garnaut
"As the Pacific Fleet commander I currently see no value of new bases," said Admiral Swift, saying they would be costly and unnecessary because so many countries were willing to open their facilities to his ships. "We don't need more infrastructure from a navy point of view."
Admiral Swift cited Australia's decision to build new Air Warfare Destroyers in Adelaide and its ongoing commitment to a new fleet of submarines.
Admiral Swift's Pacific Fleet is larger and more powerful than any national navy outside the US, comprising five aircraft carrier groups, 200 ships and submarines, 2000 aircraft and a quarter of a million sailors and marines. The fleet currently accounts for about half of all US naval assets, moving to 60 per cent. But he still pointed to the fact that demand for the Obama administration's "rebalancing" to Asia has far-outstripped what the world's most powerful navy can ever supply.
"If the entire US Navy was stationed in the East China Sea [and] South China Sea the question I would still get [is] 'when is the rebalance going to be real, what more can you send to the region'," said Admiral Swift, speaking on the sidelines of the Australia America Leadership Dialogue, which concluded in Melbourne on Saturday night.
Admiral Swift's picture of a collaborative regional response to Chinese provocations was supported this week by the 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which broke with their usual diplomatic reticence to warn of an "erosion of trust and corrosion of confidence" in the South China Sea.
And China's island-building has also engendered a rare outbreak of foreign policy bipartisanship in Washington.
"It's totally unnecessarily to build a stationary aircraft carrier in the South China Sea right off the coast of nation states," said Devin Nunes, the Republican chair of the powerful US House of Representatives intelligence committee, suggesting that China's artificial islands were intimidating but not militarily effective.
"They've managed to take long-time complicated relationships from the US and make them into allies," said Mr Nunes, speaking also on the sidelines of the US Dialogue in Melbourne.
China has accused the US Pacific Command of "militarising" the South China Sea and endeavouring to "sow discord" between China and its maritime neighbours.
Admiral Swift's predecessor, Admiral Harry Harris, sounded the alarm about "the Great Wall of Sand" that China was building across busy sea lanes in the South China Sea, in a speech to the Australian War Memorial on March 31.
One of Admiral Swift's first acts as fleet commander was to personally inspect developments in the South China Sea from the window of a P-8 surveillance plane.
Admiral Swift said his own information, reflecting the vast US intelligence machine, was consistent with public reports that showed China has slowed its sand reclamation activities but was continuing to build military-capable infrastructure on top of the new islands.
He suggested it was not yet clear whether the recent slow-down amounted to a shift in direction, in response to regional condemnation, or merely a tactical pause ahead of President Xi Jinping's visit to the US in September.
Either way, China has recently echoed the "freedom" language of US and regional partners and adopted a more conciliatory tone.
"China also has a stake in the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea," said China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in a statement following the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur.
Mr Wang said the situation was "stable" and there was "no possibility of major conflicts".
http://www.smh.com.au/world/chinas-great-wall-of-sand-unifies-allies-in-pacific-says-us-naval-chief-20150808-giuonl.html
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