A U.S. South China Sea Perspective: Just Over the Horizon

military was planning to take, but what was more important was who was not in the audience to
hear the answer. The Chinese did not send its Defense Minister or head of its military to the
conference.
Each South China Sea claimant is expanding its military capability in the South China
Sea but if the United States based more high-tech warships in Singapore or the Philippines it
would only compound the dangers of escalating a military buildup in the region. Deploying ships
from our established bases in San Diego, Honolulu, Guam, and Japan will allow the United
States to engage all nations in Southeast Asia with a degree of independence from their domestic
politics and regional conflicts. If U.S. warships are based in local harbors of the South China
Sea, U.S. independence could be dangerously reduced and raise doubt about its stated impartial
stance on maritime border disputes.
The economies of ASEAN states and China have been become closely linked, which is
advantageous as these states have become somewhat interdependent and cooperative. Thus U.S.
naval buildup and a possible military conflict in the South China Sea could negatively impact the
current relatively stable relations in the region. The U.S. Navy should indeed continue its
prominent role in the region to help protect commerce and maintain a balance of power to assist
ASEAN nations achieve progress at the negotiation table. This process will likely take a long
time, years, possibly decades, but time is required for military-to-military relations to improve
with China. If the United States intensifies its communications with the Chinese military it will
help build a stronger relationship that can serve to provide stability, cooperation and prosperity
to the region. However, the United States must not be too heavy-handed and move more
warships into the area. In this precarious balance of power, less is more.
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