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| US SecDef Ashton Carter |
Further militarizing South Asia and East Asia, especially with a policy that has a rather unsubtle bias against China, does not improve the overall security environment, an expert said in a recent interview with Xinhua.
"Instead, Washington should focus on adopting a more neutral stance regarding territorial disputes involving various regional powers and should accept that Beijing's growing economic and military influence can play a stabilizing rather than a disruptive role," said Ted Galen Carpenter, a senior fellow for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute in Washington DC.
The US does have important economic and security interests in both South Asia and East Asia, especially the latter, said the defense expert at the institute, which advocates limited government.
Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter has wrapped up his first Asia trip since taking the post in February, committing to "enter the next phase" in rebalancing American foreign policy to the Asia-Pacific region with reallocated weaponry, redistributed troops and modernized military posture.
Carpenter said that the "next phase" of the US rebalancing strategy would seem to emphasize strengthening Washington's alliances with various security partners in East Asia and South Asia, backed up by a more visible and robust US military presence.
Read the full story at Want China Times