The Red Dragon Flexes more muscle ----------------------Defense News

BEIJING — China said March 4 its military spending would top $100 billion in 2012 — a double-digit increase on last year — in a move likely to fuel concerns about Beijing’s rapid military build-up.

The defense budget will rise 11.2 percent to 670.27 billion yuan ($106.41 billion), said Li Zhaoxing, a spokesman for China’s national parliament, citing a budget report submitted to the country’s rubber-stamp legislature.

The figure marks a slowdown from 2011 when spending rose by 12.7 percent but is still likely to fuel worries over China’s growing assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region and push its neighbors to forge closer ties with the United States.

Li described the budget as “relatively low” as a percentage of gross domestic product compared with other countries and said it was aimed at “safeguarding sovereignty, national security and territorial integrity”.

“We have a large territory and a long coastline but our defense spending is relatively low compared with other major countries,” Li told reporters.

“It will not in the least pose a threat to other countries.”

China has been increasing its military spending by double digits for most of the past decade, during which time its economy, now the world’s second largest, has grown at a blistering pace.

The People’s Liberation Army — the world’s largest with an estimated 2.3 million troops — is hugely secretive about its defense programs, but insists its modernization is purely defensive in nature.

The rapid military build-up has nevertheless set alarm bells ringing across Asia and in Washington, which announced in January a defense strategy focused on countering China’s rising power.

Analysts said the smaller-than-expected increase in spending this year was an attempt by Beijing to ease concerns in the United States and the region about its growing military might.

“It is doubtful whether the message will get across because most countries know that the real budget is at least double the published one,” said Willy Lam, a leading China expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Lam said funding for modernizing the country’s military was not included in the published budget, which mostly covered salaries for defense personnel and maintenance of existing equipment.

Money for research and development of modern weaponry “comes from elsewhere”, he said.

Taiwan-based PLA expert Arthur Ding said the still considerable growth in this year’s budget would push “regional countries to try to build closer ties with the United States”.

“I think the regional countries will be really concerned about that,” Ding told AFP.

“China has to explain and try to convince the regional countries why they need such a high growth rate.”

Tokyo has repeatedly questioned Beijing’s military intentions. A Japanese government-backed report last month warned that Beijing’s assertiveness in the South China Sea could soon be replicated in neighboring waters.

China lays claim to essentially all of the South China Sea, where its professed ownership of the Spratly archipelago overlaps with claims by Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia.

Beijing and Tokyo also have a long-standing dispute over an uninhabited but strategically coveted island chain known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese, which lies between Japan and Taiwan in the East China Sea.

The two sides have occasionally clashed diplomatically over the issue, most notably in late 2010, when Japan arrested the captain of a Chinese fishing vessel near the island chain after a collision with its coastguard.

China began revamping the PLA — the former ragtag peasant force formed in 1927 by the Communist Party — in earnest after a troubled 1979 incursion into Vietnam, when the neighbors vied for influence over Southeast Asia.

China Plays Cool as U.S. and Philippine Ties grow-------Defense News

BEIJING — China on Jan. 29 called for greater efforts towards “peace and stability” in the region, after the Philippines offered to allow more U.S. troops on its territory.

Manila said Jan. 27 it planned to hold more joint exercises and to let more U.S. troops rotate through the Southeast Asian country — an offer welcomed by the United States as it seeks to expand its military power in Asia.

“We hope that relevant parties will make more effort towards peace and stability in the region,” China’s foreign ministry said in a brief statement faxed to AFP.

The government’s response was in sharp contrast to a blistering editorial in the Global Times — known for its nationalistic stance — which said Beijing should impose sanctions against the Philippines over the move.

China should use its “leverage to cut economic activities” between the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries and consider “cooling down” business links with its smaller neighbor, according to the editorial published in the Chinese and English versions of the newspaper.

“It should show China’s neighboring areas that balancing China by siding with the U.S. is not a good choice,” it said.

“Well-measured sanctions against the Philippines will make it ponder the choice of losing a friend such as China and being a vain partner with the U.S.”

China and the Philippines, along with Vietnam, have rival claims to parts of the South China Sea, home to some of the world’s most important shipping lanes and believed to hold vast deposits of fossil fuels.

Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia also have claims in the South China Sea.

Manila and Hanoi complained repeatedly last year of what they said were increasingly aggressive acts by China in the decades-long rift.

The alleged acts, which included a Chinese naval ship reportedly firing warning shots at Filipino fishermen, fueled fears among some nations in the region about China as its military and political strength grows.

The U.S. has been looking to increase its military presence across Asia Pacific in a strategic shift that has angered China.

U.S. President Barack Obama said in November the United States would deploy up to 2,500 Marines to northern Australia. The following month, a U.S. admiral wrote that the U.S. expected to station several combat ships in Singapore.

Philippines Agrees to Greater American Presence

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines on Jan. 27 announced plans to allow a greater U.S. military presence on its territory, in a move analysts said was directly aimed at trying to contain a rising China.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said the Philippines was looking for more joint military exercises with its former colonial ruler, as well as having a greater number of U.S. troops rotating through the country.

“It is to our definite advantage to be exploring how to maximize our treaty alliance with the United States in ways that would be mutually acceptable and beneficial,” del Rosario said in a statement.

Del Rosario did not specifically name China as driving the Philippines’ push for a greater U.S. military presence, but highlighted “territorial disputes.” The most pressing territorial dispute for the Philippines is with China over claims to parts of the South China Sea, home to some of the world’s most important shipping lanes and believed to hold vast deposits of fossil fuels.

The Philippines and Vietnam, who also claims parts of the South China Sea, complained repeatedly last year of what they said were increasingly aggressive acts by China in the decades-long rift.

The accusations, which included a Chinese naval ship firing warning shots at Filipino fishermen, fueled fears among some nations in the region about China as its military and political strength grows.

In his statement, del Rosario said a greater U.S. military presence in the Philippines would help bolster regional security.

“Such cooperative efforts would as well result in achieving a balance of influence to ensure peace, stability, and economic development in the region,” he said.

Nevertheless, del Rosario and other officials emphasized there were no plans to allow a return of the large-scale U.S. military bases that existed in the Philippines until 1992, when Filipino senators voted to close them down.

Del Rosario said the increased U.S. military presence could include “planning more joint exercises to promote interoperability, and a rotating and more frequent presence by them.”

Aside from regular military exercises, the most notable U.S. presence in the Philippines in recent times has been a rotating force of about 600 troops that has been stationed in the southern Philippines for the past decade.

The U.S. special operations forces train local troops in how to combat Islamic militants but are not allowed to have a fighting role.

Del Rosario’s statement expanded on comments by U.S. State Department officials on Jan. 26, who said the two countries were involved in talks this week on increasing military cooperation.

Philippine officials said more talks would be held in March to determine specifics of the plans.

Political analysts in Manila said the Philippines’ decision to allow a larger U.S. military presence was a direct reaction to China’s perceived increased aggressiveness, particularly regarding the South China Sea.

“The Philippines is now playing the U.S. card to get more leverage against China,” said Rommel Banlaoi, head of the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research.

Rene de Castro, a lecturer in international studies at De la Salle University said: “We are playing the balance of power game because we have no means to deal with an emergent and very assertive China.”

In a strategic shift that has angered China, the United States has been looking to increase its military presence across the Asia Pacific.

U.S. President Barack Obama said in November the United States would deploy up to 2,500 Marines to northern Australia. The next month a U.S. admiral wrote that the U.S. expected to station several combat ships in Singapore.

U.S. Navy Expects to Base Ships in Singapore

WASHINGTON - The United States, facing a rising China but a tighter budget, expects to station several combat ships in Singapore and may step up deployments to the Philippines and Thailand, a naval officer said.

ADM. JONATHAN GREENERT speaks during a ceremony in September at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. In an academic article, Greenet said the U.S. Navy will stations its newest littoral combat ships in Singapore. (MCS 2nd Class Shannon Eve Renfroe / Navy)

The United States has been increasingly vocal about defending freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, where tensions over territorial disputes between Beijing and Southeast Asian nations have been on the rise.

In an academic article forecasting the shape of the U.S. Navy in 2025, Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations, wrote that "we will station several of our newest littoral combat ships" in Singapore.

Greenert said that the United States may also step up the periodic deployment of aircraft such as the P-8A Poseidon - which is being developed to track submarines - to regional treaty allies the Philippines and Thailand.

"The Navy will need innovative approaches to staying forward around the world to address growing concerns about freedom of the seas while being judicious with our resources," he wrote in the December issue of the U.S. Naval Institute's Proceedings.

"Because we will probably not be able to sustain the financial and diplomatic cost of new main operating bases abroad, the fleet of 2025 will rely more on host-nation ports and other facilities where our ships, aircraft, and crews can refuel, rest, resupply and repair while deployed," he wrote.

The naval officer did not directly mention China, as part of the usual policy by U.S. President Barack Obama's administration to publicly seek a more cooperative relationship with the growing Asian power.

But the United States has laid bare its concerns about China.

Obama last month announced that the United States would post up to 2,500 Marines in the northern Australian city of Darwin by 2016-17, a move criticized by Beijing.

The United States also has some 70,000 troops stationed in Japan and South Korea under longstanding alliances and has offered assistance to the Philippines which launched its newest warship on Dec. 14.

Singapore is also a long-standing partner of the United States. The U.S. military already operates a small post in the city-state that assists in logistics and exercises for forces in Southeast Asia.

In the article, Greenert described the Gulf monarchy of Bahrain as a model. The U.S. Fifth Fleet is based on the small island which is strategically close to Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran.

"In 2025 the Navy will operate from a larger number of partner nations such as Bahrain to more affordably maintain our forward posture around the world," he wrote.

The United States spent some $700 billion on its military in the past year, far more than any other country, and many lawmakers accept the need for cuts as the Iraq and Afghan operations wind down.

The Obama administration has identified Asia - full of fast-growing economies and with a still emerging security order - as the key priority for the United States.

Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta all traveled to Asia in recent months to hammer home the message that the United States will not leave the region despite economic woes at home.

"As the United States puts our fiscal house in order, we are reducing our spending," Obama said in his speech in Darwin.

But he added: "Here is what this region must know. As we end today's wars, I have directed my national security team to make our presence and missions in the Asia-Pacific a top priority."

Naval power, critical to the rise of the United States and earlier Britain as global powers, is expected to remain critical in the 21st century.

China has developed its first aircraft carrier, which has undergone two sea trials this year. An image of the 300-meter (990-foot) refitted former Soviet carrier was captured by U.S.-based company Digital Globe Inc.

Chinese Carrier Photographed During Sea Trials

WASHINGTON - A satellite image of China's first aircraft carrier has been captured while the vessel was undergoing sea trials in the Yellow Sea, a U.S. company said on its website Dec. 15.

THIS SATELLITE IMAGE from the DigitalGlobe Analysis Center shows the Chinese aircraft carrier Varyag during its second sea trial in the Yellow Sea, approximately 100 kilometers south-southeast of the port of Dalian. (AFP Photo / DigitalGlobe)

The 300-meter (990-foot) ship, a refitted former Soviet carrier, was photographed on December 8, said Colorado-based DigitalGlobe Inc., and an analyst from the company spotted it when reviewing images five days later.

The ship underwent five days of trials in August that sparked international concern about China's widening naval reach amid growing regional tensions over maritime disputes and a U.S. campaign to assert itself as a Pacific power.The Beijing government said earlier this month that the carrier had started its second sea trial after undergoing refurbishment and testing.

The South China Sea, which is believed to be rich in oil and gas and is claimed by several countries, has dominated such disputes involving China, leading to run-ins with rival claimants including Vietnam and the Philippines.

Chinese President Hu Jintao on December 7 urged the navy to "accelerate its transformation and modernization" and "make extended preparations for military combat" to safeguard national security.

Beijing only confirmed this year that it was revamping the Soviet ship, the Varyag, and has repeatedly insisted that the carrier poses no threat to its neighbors and will be used mainly for training and research purposes.

But the August sea trials were met with concern from regional powers including Japan and the United States, which called on Beijing to explain why it needs an aircraft carrier.

China only provided the first official acknowledgment of the carrier in June when Chen Bingde, the nation's top military official, gave an interview to a Hong Kong newspaper.

The Chinese have yet to announce a name for the ship, which is commonly referred to by its old Soviet name. Although some media have used the name Shi Lang - a 17th century admiral who led a Chinese conquest of Taiwan - Chinese media often omit a name reference.

Coincidentally, the Varyag's sistership, the Russian carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, is also at sea - the first time both ships have been under way on their own power at the same time.

The Kuznetsov left its Northern Fleet base in Murmansk earlier this month for a three-month cruise to the eastern Mediterranean, where it may call at the Syrian port of Tartus. The carrier was reported off Scotland earlier this week. ■

Staff writer Christopher P. Cavas contributed to this report.

Philippines' New Warship Sent to Disputed Waters

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines launched its newest warship on Dec. 14, a former U.S. Coast Guard cutter that President Benigno Aquino said would be deployed to waters at the heart of a territorial dispute with China.

Aquino said the 378-foot (115-meter) Gregorio del Pilar would lead patrols in the parts of the South China Sea that the Philippines claims exclusively as its own and where exploration for potentially lucrative gas fields is underway.

"The Gregorio del Pilar, named after the newest general of the Philippine revolution, will take the lead in patrols for our sovereignty, and in ensuring that our waters are crime-free," Aquino said.

Aquino was speaking at Navy headquarters in Manila during a commissioning ceremony for the vessel, which replaces a World War II-era destroyer as the country's top warship.

Gregorio del Pilar was acquired from the United States earlier this year amid rising tensions between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea.

Tensions escalated after the Philippines accused the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy of firing warning volleys at Filipino fishermen in the South China Sea, harassing an oil exploration vessel and putting up markers on Philippine islets.

Those areas are much closer to the Philippine landmass than Chinese, but China insists it has sovereign rights to virtually all of the South China Sea, even waters up to the coasts of Southeast Asian countries.

Other parts of the sea, which are reputedly rich in mineral resources and straddle vital sea lanes, also are claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.

The competing claims have for decades made the sea one of Asia's most dangerous potential military flashpoints.

Meanwhile in Beijing, state media reported that China has sent its largest patrol ship, the 3,000-ton Haijian 50, to the East China Sea to guard the country's territorial rights.

China has repeatedly locked horns with neighbors Japan and Taiwan over a group of uninhabited islands - called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in Chinese - in the East China Sea that Beijing claims are in its territorial waters.

Japan and Taiwan also claim sovereignty over the area, which is similarly believed to be rich in oil and gas.

U.S., China Hold Military Talks

BEIJING - Chinese and US defense officials opened military talks in Beijing on Dec. 7 after ties were strained by American arms sales to Taiwan and a planned U.S. troop deployment in Australia.

The talks, led by Michele Flournoy, U.S. undersecretary of defense for policy, and her Chinese counterpart Ma Xiaotian, come a day after China's President Hu Jintao urged the navy to prepare for military combat.

China's official Xinhua news agency said military relations between the two powers, the situations in the Korean Peninsula and the South China Sea and the sale of U.S. arms to Taiwan would be on the agenda.They are the first ministry-level talks between the two nations since September, when Washington announced a $5.85 billion upgrade to Taiwan's fleet of F-16 fighter jets, angering Beijing, which considers the island a breakaway province.

Several Asian nations have competing claims over parts of the South China Sea, a strategically vital area believed to encompass huge oil and gas reserves, while China claims it all.

One-third of global seaborne trade passes through the maritime area and Vietnam and the Philippines have accused Chinese forces of increasing aggression there, ratcheting up tensions in the region.

On Dec. 6, Hu said in a speech to China's Central Military Commission that the navy needed to "make extended preparations for military combat in order to make greater contributions to safeguard national security and world peace."

Opening the one-day annual meeting, Ma said the talks showed that "both countries are being sincere about maintaining military exchanges".

"Hopefully both sides will make the best of this opportunity to expand common ground, keep risks under control and avoid misjudgment," he added, according to Xinhua.

China's First Aircraft Carrier Starts Second Trial

BEIJING - China's first aircraft carrier began its second sea trial on Nov. 29 after undergoing refurbishments and testing, the government said, as tensions over maritime territorial disputes in the region ran high.

The 300-meter (990-foot) ship, a refitted former Soviet carrier called the Varyag, underwent five days of trials in August that sparked international concern about China's widening naval reach.

"China's aircraft carrier platform, after successfully completing its first sea trial in August, returned to the shipyard as planned for further refitting and testing," the defense ministry said in a brief statement.

"The work has been carried out and it set sail again on November 29 to carry out relevant scientific and research experiments."

Beijing only confirmed this year that it was revamping the old Soviet ship and has repeatedly insisted that the carrier poses no threat to its neighbors and will be used mainly for training and research purposes.

But the August sea trials were met with concern from regional powers including Japan and the United States, which called on Beijing to explain why it needs an aircraft carrier.

The Nov. 29 announcement comes against a background of heightened tensions over maritime disputes in the Asia-Pacific region, where China's growing assertiveness has put it on collision course with the United States.

President Barack Obama this month irritated Beijing with a drive to enhance the U.S. role as a regional power, positioning Marines in northern Australia and pushing for a potentially transformational trans-Pacific trade pact.

Beijing sees the initiatives as intruding into its own sphere of influence, with the dispute over the South China Sea putting the two major world powers' differences into stark focus.

China claims all of the strategic area, as does Taiwan, while four Southeast Asian countries declare ownership of parts of it, with Vietnam and the Philippines accusing Beijing's forces of increasing aggression there.

The region is a conduit for more than one-third of the world's seaborne trade and half its traffic in oil and gas, and major petroleum deposits are believed to lie below the seabed.

The announcement of the carrier's second sea trial comes after Beijing said last week it would conduct "routine" naval exercises in the Pacific Ocean before the end of November.

China reportedly bought the carrier's immense armored hull - with no engine, electrics or propeller - from Ukraine in 1998.

The PLA - the world's largest active military - is extremely secretive about its defense programs, which benefit from a huge and expanding military budget boosted by the nation's runaway economic growth.

Earlier this year, China announced military spending would rise 12.7 percent to 601.1 billion yuan ($91.7 billion) in 2011.

Philippines Asks S. Korea For Military Hardware

Manila - Philippine President Benigno Aquino asked his visiting counterpart from South Korea on Monday for aircraft, boats and other hardware to help boost his country's military, amid rising tensions with China.
Aquino said he and South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak discussed their respective regional security concerns, which for the Philippines is the disputed South China Sea, where China has been accused of bullying.

"On defence cooperation, I expressed to President Lee the interest of the Philippines to gain some specific defence articles such as military-grade helicopters, boats and aircrafts," Aquino said in a joint forum.
"This is in consonance with the upgrading and modernisation of the Armed Forces of the Philippines."
Lee did not disclose any response to the specific request but said South Korea wanted to cooperate with the Philippines to resolve its maritime problems.
"We agreed that we will continue to work together so that we can peacefully resolve this issue according to international rule, norms and standards," said Lee, who is on a three-day visit to the Philippines.
Aquino has this year begun upgrading the Philippines' military, which is one of the weakest in the region with its navy made up of mostly World War II-era ships and its air force consisting of Vietnam War-vintage planes.
He has said the Philippines needs to be able to defend its claims to waters and islands of the South China Sea.
China and Taiwan claim the South China Sea in full, while the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei have claims to parts of the area, which is believed to hold vast oil and gas deposits.
The Philippines has accused the Chinese military of aggressive acts in the Philippine-claimed areas of the sea this year, including firing on Filipino fishermen, laying buoys and harassing an oil exploration vessel.
Aquino and Lee also oversaw the signing of economic agreements, the most significant of which will see South Korea provide the Philippines with up to $500 million in development loans from 2011 to 2013.
South Korea will also help build a coal-fired power plant in a free-trade zone on the main Philippine island of Luzon, and a dam on a river in the central island of Panay.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the dam project was worth $300 million.

China, Vietnam Vessels Collide At Sea – Literally

TAIPEI, Taiwan - A Vietnam Maritime Police vessel rammed a China Maritime Surveillance vessel within the past six months. Exactly where the incident ensued is unknown, but given the fact that it was a "police" vessel points to the likelihood it was within Vietnam's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
The video appeared on YouTube on Nov. 7 and shows a Vietnamese vessel ramming the Chinese vessel.

Sources in the region indicate that if it occurred after the July 20 agreement for the Declaration of Conduct guidelines for South China Sea claimant countries or after the Oct. 11 China-Vietnam agreement on basic principles to settle sea issues, it then raises questions on which country is in violation.
However, Vietnam is clearly the aggressor in the video, and the video demonstrates that the Vietnamese vessel violates safety of navigation and international regulations preventing collisions at sea.
Tensions from overlapping claims in the South China Sea have been rising in the past year as China increases naval patrols in the region and ignores the EEZ of its neighbors.
Since January, Chinese vessels have harassed Filipino and Vietnamese fishing- and oil-exploration vessels with greater regularity, including allegations China has placed equipment near Reed Bank, claimed by the Philippines.
On May 26, three Chinese state-operated Ocean Marine Surveillance vessels harassed the Binh Minh 02, a vessel owned by the oil company PetroVietnam, cutting a towed survey cable. Then on June 9, a Chinese fishing boat rammed a PetroVietnam vessel conducting an oil survey. Both incidents occurred within Vietnam's EEZ.
China and Vietnam have been bumping into one another in the South China Sea since the 1970s. In 1974 China took the Paracel Islands by military force from then-South Vietnam, but Hanoi continues to claim the islands. In 1988 China and Vietnam fought over the Johnson South Reef in the South China Sea. China sank two Vietnamese naval vessels and opened fired on Vietnamese troops occupying the reef, killing over 30.

TENSION TIMELINE

· Feb. 25: A Chinese frigate fired warning shots at three Filipino fishing boats near the Jackson atoll near Palawan Island, Philippines.
· March 2: Two Chinese maritime patrol vessels threatened to ram a Philippine government energy-research vessel, the M/V Venture, conducting a seismic survey in the Reed Bank area near Palawan Island.
· May: China announces a unilateral fishing ban for the northern part of the South China Sea from May to August.
· May: Vietnam alleges Chinese naval vessels fired on four Vietnamese fishing vessels near East London Reef and Cross Island.
· May: Chinese vessels laid steel posts and a buoy in the Amy Douglas Bank, southwest of Reed Bank within the Philippines Exclusive Economic Zones.
· May 11: Two unidentified fighter jets, said to be Chinese, were sighted near Palawan Island, claimed by the Philippines.
· May 23: Philippine President Benigno Aquino III warned Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Liang Guanglie during his visit to Manila of a possible arms race if tensions worsened over South China Sea disputes.

Taiwan Urges Better South China Sea Defense

TAIPEI - Taiwan's security chief called Oct. 26 for improved defenses of a group of islands in the South China Sea, reacting to reports that rival claimants to the disputed waters are building up arms.
"The Spratly Islands are our territory ... We should upgrade our defense capabilities and replace some aging equipment," Tsai De-sheng, head of the national security bureau, said in parliament.

Tsai's comments came after defense minister Kao Hua-chu endorsed a plan proposed by lawmakers to deploy advanced missiles in the contested waters over concerns that Taiwan's coast guards were vulnerable.
The Taiwanese coast guard currently has a 130-strong garrison on Taiping, the biggest island in the Spratlys archipelago.
Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, China, Malaysia and the Philippines claim all or part of the Spratlys, which could lie on top of large oil reserves.
All claimants except Brunei have troops based on the archipelago of more than 100 islets, reefs and atolls, which have a total land mass of less than five square kilometers (two square miles).
Taiwan's navy in July took a group of academics to the disputed islands despite a flare-up of regional tensions over rival claims for the contested waters.
Tensions in the decades-old dispute escalated this year amid accusations from the Philippines and Vietnam that China was becoming increasingly aggressive in staking its claims.

Panetta Heads to Asia with Focus on North Korea

WASHINGTON - U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta embarks Oct. 23 on a tour of Asia to take the pulse of key allies as Washington prepares for rare direct talks with North Korea over its nuclear program.
In his first trip to the region since taking the helm at the Pentagon in July, the former CIA director will begin with a stop in Indonesia before heading to Japan on Oct. 24 and South Korea on Oct. 26.
The trip coincides with sensitive direct talks between the United States and North Korea in Geneva next week to try to lay the ground for reviving long-stalled nuclear disarmament negotiations.
Before any broader discussions, the United States and South Korea are insisting the North take concrete steps to demonstrate it is sincere about resuming the full six-party nuclear dialogue with Japan, Russia and China.
In meetings in Tokyo and Seoul, Panetta "will have an opportunity to discuss with his counterparts where we are in the diplomatic process," a senior defense official said.
The defense chiefs will examine what steps to take to bolster diplomacy but also insure that they are prepared, should North Korea "choose to undertake a provocation," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"We are essentially exploring the proposition and trying to ascertain if the North Koreans are serious about engaging in nuclear diplomacy and serious about living up to their commitments under the six-party process," the official said.
In April 2009, the North formally quit the six-party forum a month before staging its second atomic weapons test. In 2010, Pyongyang torpedoed and sank a South Korean ship and unleashed an artillery barrage on a South Korean island.
"If they are serious and they are willing to take concrete steps, then there's a clear path back towards the six-party process and diplomacy," the defense official said. "But that yet has to be seen."
Apart from diplomacy focused on North Korea, Panetta's talks in Tokyo are expected to cover missile defense plans, potential U.S. arms sales and the controversial future of the U.S. Futenma air base on the island of Okinawa.
The Pentagon chief travels to Seoul for a two-day stop with U.S.-South Korean relations at a high point, after President Lee Myung-Bak's red carpet treatment this month in Washington and the approval of a free-trade agreement between the two countries.
Panetta was scheduled to meet Lee, Foreign Minister Kim Sung-Hwan and his counterpart, Kim Kwan-Jin, after South Korean and U.S. forces staged a major joint exercise this week over the Yellow Sea that simulated dogfights with North Korea.
Before Japan and South Korea, Panetta will start his trip on the Indonesia island of Bali, where he is due to arrive Oct. 22 before meetings with Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro to discuss maritime security and reforms in the country's military, another defense official said.
The United States last year resumed ties with Indonesia's special forces after a 12-year suspension following military reforms and pledges from Jakarta to safeguard human rights.
The Pentagon chief also will hold talks with defense ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on the sidelines of the bloc's meeting in Bali.
Disputes between ASEAN members and China over the resource-rich South China Sea will likely feature high on the agenda, as Washington has called for a regional code of conduct and insisted on "freedom of navigation" through the crucial global shipping route despite Beijing's territorial claims.
China says it has sovereignty over essentially all of the South China Sea, where its professed ownership of the Spratly archipelago overlaps with claims by Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia.

Vietnam to Get Sub Fleet in 6 Years: State Media

HANOI - Vietnam will have a submarine fleet within six years, the defense minister reportedly confirmed Aug. 4, in what analysts say is intended as a deterrent to China's increasing assertiveness at sea.

"In the coming five to six years, we will have a submarine brigade with six Kilo 636-Class subs," Defence Minister Phung Quang Thanh was quoted as saying by the state-controlled Tuoi Tre newspaper.

Russian media reported in December 2009 that Vietnam had agreed to buy half a dozen diesel-electric submarines for about $2 billion.

Thanh said the fleet was "definitely not meant as a menace to regional nations," according to the report.

"Buying submarines, missiles, fighter jets and other equipment is for self-defense," he was quoted as saying.

Ian Storey, a regional security analyst at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) in Singapore, said the submarine deal has been driven by events in the South China Sea, where China and Vietnam have a longstanding territorial spat over the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos.

Tensions rose after Vietnam in May accused Chinese marine surveillance vessels of cutting the exploration cables of an oil survey ship inside the country's exclusive economic zone.

"These purchases are designed to deter the Chinese from encroaching on Vietnamese sovereignty," Storey told AFP.

He said the country already operates two midget submarines bought years ago from North Korea.

In the newspaper report, Thanh did not specify how Vietnam was paying for its naval upgrade.

"It depends on our economic ability. Vietnam has yet to produce modern weapons and military equipment, which are costly to import," he said.

Analysts say the country's economy is in turmoil with galloping inflation, large trade and budget deficits, inefficient state spending, and other woes.

Much of Vietnam's military hardware is antiquated but this week it received the first of three new coastal patrol planes for the marine police, announced the manufacturer, Madrid-based Airbus Military.

Russian media reported last year that Vietnam ordered 12 Sukhoi Su-30MK2 warplanes in a deal worth about $1 billion.

Other nations in the region have accused China in recent months of becoming more aggressive in enforcing its claims to parts of the South China Sea.

The Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have overlapping claims to all or parts of the waters, which are potentially rich in oil and gas deposits and straddle vital commercial shipping lanes.

Japan Warns of China's Growing Naval Muscle

TOKYO - Japan voiced concern Tuesday over China's growing assertiveness and widening naval reach in nearby waters and the Pacific and over what it called the "opaqueness" of Beijing's military budget.
In its annual defense report, Tokyo also pointed to threats from North Korea's series of nuclear tests and development of a new midrange ballistic missile, and at a lingering island dispute with Russia.

China has been embroiled in separate spats over islands - with Japan as well as with several Southeast Asian nations including Vietnam and the Philippines - which have flared up again over the past year.
The report, approved by Prime Minister Naoto Kan's cabinet, used a Japanese word that can be translated as "overbearing" or "assertive" for China's stance in the disputes with its neighbors, including Japan.
The report, released by the defense ministry, said that in this context, China's "future direction can be a source of concern".
Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa later told reporters that the intended English translation was "assertive", Jiji Press reported.
"We used the expression, thinking the entire international community probably perceives it that way," he said. "This is one way of expressing our hope that China will address these issues through friendly relations."
The paper also said China's defense spending was not transparent, saying that the defense budget publicly announced by China "is widely seen as only part of what Beijing actually spends for military purposes."
"Opaqueness in its defense policies and military movements are concerns for the region, including Japan, and for the international community, and we need to carefully analyze them," it said.
The paper said China is expected to expand its routine activities in the South China Sea, East China Sea and the Pacific Ocean.
"Considering the recent modernization of China's maritime and air forces, the areas affected by the capabilities will likely expand beyond its nearby waters," the defense paper said.
Japan's defense outlook has moved away from a perceived Cold War threat of a Soviet invasion, while Japan has boosted ground, air and naval forces on the far-southern Nansei islands near disputed islands in the East China Sea.
The paper for the first time also mentioned "risks to the stable use of the 'global commons' such as maritime, cyber and outer space as an emerging security issue in recent years."
The report also labeled North Korea's atomic bomb tests "a significant threat to Japan's security when the North is boosting capabilities of ballistic missiles that could carry weapons of mass destruction".
Japan also reiterated its claim of sovereignty over various islands that are in dispute with its neighbors China, Russia and South Korea.
A row over islands called Dokdo by Seoul and Takeshima by Tokyo flared again this week when three Japanese conservative opposition lawmakers were denied entry to South Korea as they planned to visit a nearby island.
South Korea's defense ministry launched a protest over the claim in the defense paper and urged Japan "to realize they can never expect progress in bilateral military relations without giving up a claim to Dokdo."

Mullen Flies to China as U.S. Plans Naval Exercise

WASHINGTON - The top U.S. military officer departs for China July 8 in a trip designed to bolster a fledgling security dialogue with Beijing, even as a U.S. naval exercise in the South China Sea threatens to upstage his visit.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of staff, was to depart July 8 for the four-day tour that will include talks with senior officers and a visit to military units, officials said.

Mullen - who in May hosted his Chinese counterpart, People's Liberation Army Chief of General Staff Chen Bingde - "looks forward to continuing the engagement and dialogue" with Chen in Beijing, the Pentagon said in a statement.
But the admiral's trip coincides with a joint naval exercise set for July 9 with the U.S., Japanese and Australian navies in the South China Sea, where China has asserted territorial claims.
U.S. and Japanese officials said the exercise will include the Japanese destroyer Shimakaze, an American destroyer - the Preble - and a Royal Australian Navy patrol boat.
The ships will carry out communications training and other drills off Brunei, officials said.
The U.S. Navy played down the exercise, with a spokeswoman calling it a small-scale, "low-level" activity on the sidelines of an international defense exhibition in Brunei.
Lt. Commander Tamara Lawrence told AFP it was a "passing exercise," which typically includes flag semaphore drills, navigation and other exercises focused on "basic seamanship."
China has objected to previous U.S. naval drills in the South China Sea, and tensions in the strategic and resource-rich area have mounted in recent weeks.
The Philippines and Vietnam have expressed concern over what they call China's increasingly assertive stance in the area.
Mullen's visit also comes after the United States and the Philippines carried out joint naval exercises, which Manila and Washington insisted were aimed at deepening military ties and not related to worries over China.
China has insisted that it wants a peaceful resolution of territorial disagreements, but has warned Washington against involvement in the intensifying disputes in the region.
The trip to China is the first by a U.S. chairman of the joint chiefs since 2007, officials said.
Mullen "has a wide range of meetings with senior military officials scheduled, including visits to PLA military units," the Pentagon said.
The admiral was also due to address students at Renmin University in Beijing, it said.
As tensions in the South China Sea have mounted, the pace of China-U.S. military exchanges have also picked up, with the former U.S. defense secretary Robert Gates meeting Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie in Singapore in early June, following a January visit by Gates to Beijing.
Gates warned last month that clashes could erupt in the South China Sea unless nations with conflicting territorial claims adopt a mechanism to settle their disputes peacefully.

U.S., Japan, Australia Plan South China Sea Drill

TOKYO - The U.S., Japanese and Australian navies on July 9 will hold a joint drill in the South China Sea - most of which China claims as its maritime territory - Japan's defense ministry said.
Japan's Maritime Self-Defence Force will send destroyer Shimakaze to join a U.S. Navy destroyer and a Royal Australian Navy patrol boat for communications training and other drills off Brunei, the defense ministry said July 8.

It will be their first joint military exercise in the South China Sea, most of which an increasingly assertive China claims as its maritime territory, but where several Southeast Asian nations have competing claims.
"The exercise is aimed at enhancing tactical skills of the Maritime Self-Defence Force and strengthening relations with the participating navies," the ministry said in a statement.
Tensions in the strategic and resource-rich South China Sea have escalated in recent weeks, with the Philippines and Vietnam voicing alarm at what they say are increasingly forceful Chinese actions there.
They include accusations of Chinese forces opening fire on Filipino fishermen, shadowing an oil exploration vessel employed by a Philippine firm, and putting up structures in areas claimed by the Philippines.
Vietnam voiced anger after a Chinese vessel in May cut the exploration cables of a Vietnamese survey ship.
The South China Sea includes the Spratlys, a chain of islands believed to sit on vast mineral resources.

Breaking News From The Department of Homeland Security U.S., China Holding Talks on Rising Sea Tensions

HONOLULU, Hawaii - The United States and China were holding first-of-a-kind talks June 25 on rising tensions in the South China Sea, with Beijing angry over Washington's support of Southeast Asian countries.
Senior officials of the Pacific powers were meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, days after the United States rallied behind the Philippines and Vietnam which have been alarmed at what they see as Beijing's growing assertiveness at sea.

Kurt Campbell, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said ahead of the talks that he would make clear to China the "strong principles" of the United States in defense of freedom of navigation.
"We want recent tensions to subside and cooler heads to prevail," Campbell told reporters in Washington on June 24.
Campbell reiterated that the United States takes no stance on China's territorial disputes with its neighbors - a point of contention for some U.S. lawmakers who have been pressing for a more proactive role.
"The United States has no intention to fan the flames in the South China Sea and we have a very strong interest in the maintenance of peace and stability," Campbell said.
But China's top official at the Hawaii talks, vice foreign minister Cui Tiankai, warned that U.S. support of its partners in Southeast Asia "can only make things more complicated."
"I believe some countries now are playing with fire. And I hope the U.S. won't be burned by this fire," Cui said, as quoted by The Wall Street Journal.
Cui said that the United States should limit itself to urging "more restraint and responsible behavior from those countries that have been frequently taking provocative actions."
While the United States and China often talk, the session on June 25 is the first to focus specifically on the Asia-Pacific region. The dialogue was set up during the top-level Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Washington in May.
Campbell said that the United States would also talk to China about its interactions with North Korea and Myanmar, two of the dynamic region's most isolated countries which both count on Beijing as their main source of support.
But the talks are expected to focus on the South China Sea, strategic and potentially oil-rich waters where Beijing has sometimes overlapping disputes with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
Vietnam recently held live-fire military exercises after accusing Chinese ships of ramming one oil survey ship and cutting the exploration cables of another.
The Philippines ordered its navy into the South China Sea - part of which it calls the West Philippine Sea - after accusing China of firing on Filipino fishermen and installing posts and a buoy in contested waters.
The United States plans joint exercises with the Philippines and a naval exchange with Vietnam in coming weeks, although U.S. officials have characterized the activities as routine.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on June 23 pledged to assist the Philippines in modernizing its navy, whose flagship is an aging vessel used by the United States in World War II.
"While we are a small country, we are prepared to do what is necessary to stand up to any aggressive action in our backyard," Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said June 23 with Clinton at his side.
The United States a week earlier held talks with Vietnam, in which the former war foes issued a joint call for a peaceful resolution to disputes in the South China Sea.
President Barack Obama's administration has focused on building ties with Southeast Asia, accusing the previous team of George W. Bush of neglecting the fast-growing and often U.S.-friendly region due to preoccupation with wars.