The U.S. Navy intends to deploy another nuclear-powered submarine and a radar-evading destroyer in the Western Pacific in response to China's apparent use of disputed areas in the South China Sea for military purposes, a top naval commander said Wednesday.
Head of the U.S. Pacific Command Adm. Harry Harris mentioned the intention during a congressional hearing, as Washington is worried by Beijing's installment of military equipment on artificial islands to claim the areas in the South China Sea.
The U.S. military "could consider putting another (nuclear-powered attack) submarine" in the Western Pacific and could deploy forward the Zumwalt, a new stealth-guided missile destroyer, Harris told the House of Representatives Committee on Armed Services.
"There's a lot of things we could do, short of putting a full carrier striker in the Western Pacific," Harris said.
The United States has a major submarine base in Guam and the Defense Department earmarked an outlay to repair a pier of the naval base in Sasebo, southwestern Japan, so the port facility can be suitable for new vessels including the Zumwalt in the budget plan for the next fiscal year starting October.
China has missiles on Woody Island, the largest in the Paracel chain. It also has a 3,000-meter runway on artificial islands built on Subi and Fiery Cross reefs in the Spratly Islands as well as advanced radars on Cuarteron Reef in the chain, Harris said.
Some Southeast Asian nations and Taiwan claim parts of the Paracel and Spratly chains while China said the South China Sea is its territory.
Comments
Post a Comment