WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2012 – As America’s focus shifts to the Asia-Pacific region, the U.S. Pacific Fleet is well-placed to protect national interests and connect with regional nations, Pacific Fleet’s commander, Adm. Patrick Walsh, said.
Adm. Cecil Haney will replace Walsh as the commander of the world’s largest fleet tomorrow during a ceremony at Pearl Harbor.
President Barack Obama’s military strategy announced earlier this month says that America’s focus will shift more toward the Asia-Pacific region in keeping with the U.S. position as a leading Pacific nation.
The Navy’s Pacific Fleet is a guarantor of peace and stability in the region, and it is well-positioned to take on the added focus, Walsh said during a recent interview with American Forces Press Service.
The fleet will continue to build military-to-military relations with Pacific nations, the admiral said. It will seek to strengthen ties with rising powers such as China and India while maintaining long-established relations with Japan, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines and Australia. It will continue to work bilaterally, trilaterally or multinationally with all in the region, he said.
The region is huge and diverse, but one thing that the nations agree on is the role America plays in security and stability there. Few national leaders anywhere in the region want America to become isolationist, Walsh said.
“In terms of our role as a Pacific power, often I hear about the Chinese coastline being 9,000 miles long; ours is 45,000,” he added.
China is the dragon in the room. The nation now has the second-largest economy in the world – growing at about 8 percent annually – and is investing in its military force.
The government plans to launch a new agency Feb. 10 that will play a key role in promoting reconstruction in areas devastated by the March 11 disasters, a month before their first anniversary, government sources said.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is set to appoint disaster rebuilding minister Tatsuo Hirano as reconstruction minister in charge of executing duties at the new government body, which will be based in Tokyo.
The agency, which will have a stronger mandate than other ministries, will be in charge of dealing with requests on such matters as launching special zones to promote recovery and allocating the budget for reconstruction efforts.
The entity will establish local bureaus in the capitals of the three hardest hit prefectures, Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima.
It will also open offices in six cities in Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, Aomori and Ibaraki prefectures.
It will have a workforce of 250 and the government intends to recruit private-sector employees and local government officials, the sources said.
But the agency's creation could be delayed if Noda's plan to appoint a new minister in addition to Hirano because of the chance that the new entity meets with opposition, the sources said.
Adm. Cecil Haney will replace Walsh as the commander of the world’s largest fleet tomorrow during a ceremony at Pearl Harbor.
President Barack Obama’s military strategy announced earlier this month says that America’s focus will shift more toward the Asia-Pacific region in keeping with the U.S. position as a leading Pacific nation.
The Navy’s Pacific Fleet is a guarantor of peace and stability in the region, and it is well-positioned to take on the added focus, Walsh said during a recent interview with American Forces Press Service.
The fleet will continue to build military-to-military relations with Pacific nations, the admiral said. It will seek to strengthen ties with rising powers such as China and India while maintaining long-established relations with Japan, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines and Australia. It will continue to work bilaterally, trilaterally or multinationally with all in the region, he said.
The region is huge and diverse, but one thing that the nations agree on is the role America plays in security and stability there. Few national leaders anywhere in the region want America to become isolationist, Walsh said.
“In terms of our role as a Pacific power, often I hear about the Chinese coastline being 9,000 miles long; ours is 45,000,” he added.
China is the dragon in the room. The nation now has the second-largest economy in the world – growing at about 8 percent annually – and is investing in its military force.
The government plans to launch a new agency Feb. 10 that will play a key role in promoting reconstruction in areas devastated by the March 11 disasters, a month before their first anniversary, government sources said.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is set to appoint disaster rebuilding minister Tatsuo Hirano as reconstruction minister in charge of executing duties at the new government body, which will be based in Tokyo.
The agency, which will have a stronger mandate than other ministries, will be in charge of dealing with requests on such matters as launching special zones to promote recovery and allocating the budget for reconstruction efforts.
The entity will establish local bureaus in the capitals of the three hardest hit prefectures, Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima.
It will also open offices in six cities in Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, Aomori and Ibaraki prefectures.
It will have a workforce of 250 and the government intends to recruit private-sector employees and local government officials, the sources said.
But the agency's creation could be delayed if Noda's plan to appoint a new minister in addition to Hirano because of the chance that the new entity meets with opposition, the sources said.
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