ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT (Reuters) - - The United States will not be deterred from plans to strengthen its military position in Asia by emerging threats elsewhere, the U.S. defence secretary said on Thursday as he prepared to meet allies in the region worried by an increasingly assertive China.
President Barack Obama, in a keynote foreign policy speech on Wednesday, surprised and disappointed some in Asia when he made no specific reference to what has been a signature policy theme of his administration, the rebalancing of U.S. military, political and economic focus toward Asia. He talked at length instead about emerging threats, including by militants operating from the North African region. U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters en route for Singapore, where he will speak at a regional security forum before heading on to Afghanistan and Europe, that the U.S. commitment to Asia was as strong as ever. “What the president said yesterday and his explanation in addressing the emerging threats in all corners of the word will not inhibit, or shorten, or lessen our asset position here in the rebalancing to the Asia Pacific,” he said when asked if resources earmarked for Asia after the winding down of the Iraq and Afghan wars might be rediverted to deal with the new threats Obama referred to. “That doesn't diminish at all the commitment, nor will it, that we have made to this rebalance in Asia and the Pacific.”
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