The Pentagon is seriously considering stationing a second aircraft carrier in the Asia-Pacific region to bolster the USS Kitty Hawk's military capability in the region, according to AP news.
The USS Kitty Hawk, currently the only US aircraft carrier among its total of 12, is permanently based out of Japan with a key mission to handle threats allegedly posed by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) or a possible military conflict across China's Taiwan Straits.
The US plan to deploy a second aircraft carrier will signal a key step the United States has made to practise its long-brewed strategy to shift its military focus from West to East.
Top US military commander in the Asia-Pacific region Admiral Thomas Fargo reportedly has recently recommended such a move to Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
He also suggested the US carrier should maintain a "high state of level readiness," through being given enough training, spare parts and ammunition so that it can be swiftly mobilized with just four or five days notice.
In fact, it was the US strategic idea to add another aircraft carrier to the Asia-Pacific region to increase its military deterrence of the Chinese mainland when it held a missiles-launching exercise across the Taiwan Straits.
In the eyes of the Pentagon, the deployment of another carrier in the Asia-Pacific region can help the United States more effectively deter conflicts across the Taiwan Straits and prevent the DPRK from adventurous military actions.
Through the military move, Washington also wants to demonstrate to the whole world, especially to its Asian allies, that the United States is the only superpower that can guarantee security in the region.
But such US strategic intentions are a miscalculation.
Whether peace can be maintained on the Taiwan Straits is decided by whether or not the Taiwan authorities cling to their splittist line.
US aircraft carriers stationed in the region will have no impact on the mainland's resolve to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Also, the DPRK nuclear issue can be only defused through face-to-face negotiations, not by military build-ups.
If Washington really wants to make the Asia-Pacific region more peaceful and stable, it is time for it to spend more time on removing the elements possibly leading to conflicts in the region. |