Spotlight: New phase of U.S. rebalancing strategy ought to mean peace, stability to Asia-Pacific

The new phase of the rebalancing strategy toward Asia and the Pacific lately unveiled by the United States ought to mean promotion of peace, stability and prosperity in the region, rather than fueling tensions in there.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Monday that Washington is opening a new phase of its strategic "rebalance" toward Asia and the Pacific, which is "the defining region" for America's future.

The new phase of the rebalancing strategy, which has placed much emphasis on the deployment of high-tech weapons and strengthening of U.S. military presence, has already triggered concerns that it might fuel regional tensions.

As the world's biggest economic power, the United States should act with caution while seeking stronger military presence in Asia and the Pacific. A much more active U.S. military engagement will impose a huge impact on the region's strategic stability.

While striving to deepen and diversify its engagement in the region for its own future, the country also needs to bear in mind the future and interests of other countries. More importantly, its rebalancing strategy should offer approaches to strengthen peace, stability and prosperity in the region.

Under the strategy, the United States plans to locate in the future 60 percent of its military fleet in the Pacific-Indian Ocean area.

"The newest and most capable weapons systems will go first to the (Asia-Pacific) region. When movements are completed...60 percent of the U.S. fleet will be in the Pacific-Indian Ocean area," the U.S. Defense Department said in a press release Monday.

The U.S. Marines already have a rotational presence in Australia, and Washington is currently negotiating on strengthening its military cooperation with the Philippines.

According to the release, the United States is also cooperating with Japan and South Korea on information-sharing agreements, and is working with Australia, Japan and India to strengthen maritime security.

Augmenting the strategic U.S.-Japan-South Korea triangle is another core element of the new phase of America's Asia pivot.

Carter began on Monday his trip to Japan and South Korea to promote defense relations with the two countries.

On Wednesday, Japanese and U.S. defense chiefs agreed to speed up work on revising their bilateral defense cooperation guidelines, while stressing the necessity to build a new base in Okinawa to replace the U.S. Marine Corp's Futenma Base.

"The new guidelines will transform the U.S.-Japan alliance, expanding opportunities in the U.S. armed forces and the Japan Self-Defense Forces to cooperate seamlessly," Carter told a joint press conference after talking with his Japanese counterpart Gen Nakatani.

The visit coincides with the first update of the U.S.-Japan defense guidelines since 1997, a controversial revision attempted to expand the scope for interaction between the two allies in line with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push to ease the constraints of Japan's pacifist Constitution on its military.

Regarding the U.S. Marine Corp's Futenma Air Base relocation issue, the two defense chiefs insisted that building a new facility in Hakone, a coastal area of Nago also in Okinawa prefecture, is "the only viable solution," despite strong opposition from local residents.

After finishing the three-day tour to Japan, Carter on Thursday arrived in South Korea, where he is scheduled to hold face-to-face talks with his South Korean counterpart Han Min-koo.

Even before his arrival, a wave of speculative reports on the real intention behind his visit poured out of local news outlets. Carter is known to have strongly advocated missile defense, citing "nuclear and missile threats" from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The visit of Carter, a famous "hawk" on missile defense, added fuels to the already-inflamed controversy over the deployment of the advanced U.S. missile defense system called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) on the Korean Peninsula.

On Tuesday, the DPRK fired two surface-to-air missiles into the sea off its west coast, apparently in response. Endi