01 February 2013

News Story: Expert says US facing more challenges in Asia


By William Lowther

LUNAR THREAT:Rick Fisher said China could be projecting military power globally and moving to build up a military presence on the moon by the mid-2020s

The US’ strategic position in Asia is being challenged more today than at any point since the end of the Cold War, says Rick Fisher, a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center.

“And China is really only getting started,” says Fisher in a paper published this week by The George Washington University Sigur Center for Asian Studies.

An expert on Asian military affairs, Fisher says that after a steady 20-year buildup in the Taiwan Strait, China now feels it has sufficient strength to “impose its territorial claims on Japan and the contiguous states of the South China Sea.”

He said China, Japan and the US are now engaged in the “preparatory moves” for what could become an air battle over the Diaoyoutai Islands (釣魚台), “a battle that could quickly expand to sea and space conflict.”

Read the full story at Taipei Times