Littoral combat ship. The littoral combat ship (LCS) is a class of relatively small surface vessels intended for operations in the littoral zone (close to shore) by the United States Navy.[1] It was "envisioned to be a networked, agile, stealthy surface combatant capable of defeating anti-access and asymmetric threats in the littorals. "[2] In 2012, CNO Jonathan W. Greenert said some of the LCS would be deployed to Africa in place of destroyers and cruisers.[5] Then in 2013, the LCS requirement was cut from 55 to 52 ships, because U.S. Africa Command reduced the presence requirement.[6] On 6 January 2014, the office of the secretary of defense (OSD) directed the Navy to reduce overall buys of the LCS from 52 to 32, in favor of a "more capable surface combatant.
Design features[edit] The Independence class has a particularly large flight deck. Also by placing sensors on remote vehicles, the LCS will be able to exploit concepts such as bistatic sonar.[15] Mission modules[edit] Mission module changes[edit] Obama announces streamlined military | DC Spotlight Newspaper. US Strategic Defence Review: The Dilemma For Asian States - Analysis. By IDSA By R. S. Kalha When President Barrack Obama unveiled the new US Strategic Defense Review at the Pentagon recently he did not in his remarks name the one country that everyone was expecting – China. Asia What Obama left unsaid was made clear in the body of the review. The Chinese have not reacted officially to the latest review, but their media, through a series of articles, have articulated China’s views.
Thus as China and the US size up and confront each other, the dilemma for other Asian States is indeed acute. The US is one of China’s major markets with bilateral trade nearing US $400 billion, although it is heavily weighted in China’s favour. It is obvious to any observer that the two countries are in a tight embrace and will find it exceedingly difficult to disengage even if the circumstances so demanded. In India too we should be more discerning if the past is any guide. RS Kalha is a former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs and can be contacted at rskalha@hotmail.com. India-Australia Relations and the Obama Pivot to Asia. In supporting her proposal to reverse the Australian ban on uranium exports to India at the Australian Labour Party’s conference in early December, Prime Minister Julia Gillard argued that, “We should take a decision that is in our nation's interest, a decision about strengthening our strategic partnership with India in this, the Asian century.
" The proposal, which was successfully passed at the conference, comes at a time when U.S. President Barack Obama is orchestrating Washington’s strategic pivot to Asia and signals that further space is being negotiated for India in the existing regional order. Washington seems to be using its military allies such as Australia and Japan to explore Indian participation in an evolving Indo-Pacific security and economic architecture, one that is probably more about creating stability in a geo-economic sphere where India and China will be the most dynamic players than about balancing China’s rise. Congress approves $662-billion defense spending bill. Reporting from Washington — Ending a weeks-long tangle with the White House, Congress approved a sweeping defense bill Thursday that includes controversial provisions on handling detainees accused of terrorism and tough new sanctions on Iran.
The National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 passed the Senate on a 86-13 vote, a solid show of support that belied the considerable opposition and debate behind it. Several Democrats said they voted for the bill — which sets Pentagon policy, authorizes $662 billion in spending and gives service members a pay raise — despite their concerns about the detainee provisions. President Obama initially said he would veto the legislation, but he withdrew the threat after the White House said it was satisfied with revisions made in negotiations this week between the House and Senate. The bill also allows the military to indefinitely detain terrorism suspects accused of having ties to Al Qaeda, the Taliban or forces engaged in hostilities against the U.S. U.S. Debt - How Much China Owns. The U.S. debt was more than $14.3 trillion during the so-called debt crisis of 2011, when the level of borrowing reached its statutory limit and the president warned of a potential default if the cap wasn't raised.
See also: 5 Presidents Who Raised the Debt Ceiling So who owns all that U.S. debt? About 32 cents for every dollar of U.S. debt, or $4.6 trillion, is owned by the federal government in trust funds, for Social Security and other programs such as retirement accounts, according to the U.S. Department of Treasury.
China and U.S. Debt The largest portion of U.S. debt, 68 cents for every dollar or about $10 trillion, is owned by individual investors, corporations, state and local governments and, yes, even foreign governments such as China that hold Treasury bills, notes and bonds. Foreign governments hold about 46 percent of all U.S. debt held by the public, more than $4.5 trillion. In total, China owns about 8 percent of publicly held U.S. debt. Criticism of China Owning U.S.
Fed Now Largest Owner of U.S. Gov’t Debt—Surpassing China. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) (CNSNews.com) - At the close of business on Tuesday, the debt of the federal government exceeded $15 trillion for the first time--with the largest single owner of the publicly held portion of that debt being the Federal Reserve.
Over the past year, as the Federal Reserve massively increased its holdings of U.S. Treasury securities and entities in China marginally decreased theirs, the Fed surpassed the Chinese as the top owner of publicly held U.S. government debt. In its latest monthly report , the Federal Reserve said that as of Sept. 28, it owned $1.665 trillion in U.S. Treasury securities. That was more than double the $812 billion in U.S. Meanwhile, as of the end of this September, entities in mainland China owned $1.1483 trillion in U.S. Thus, at the end of September 2010, the Chinese owned about $339.9 billion more in U.S. The U.S. <div class="disqus-noscript"><a href=" APEC Business Travel Card. The APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC) was developed in response to the need for business people to gain streamlined entry to the economies of the Asia-Pacific region.
This enables business people to explore new business opportunities, attend meetings, and conduct trade and investment activities. The ABTC gives frequent business travelers pre-cleared, facilitated short-term entry to participating member economies. Unfortunately, American citizens do not yet have access to the card. The U.S. is one of only two, out of the 21 members of APEC, that have yet to issue the cards to their citizens. This delay puts U.S. citizens and U.S. businesses at a significant disadvantage. In 2009 AmCham began to pressure Congress to pass legislation that would enable the Department of Homeland Security to distribute ABTCs to Americans.
Click here to read our press release. Since 2011 AmCham has continued to urge the U.S. government to make the cards available for Americans. Enrolling in the U.S. Trans-Pacific Partnership. TPP Leaders at the APEC Summit in Japan, 2010, photo credit to Gobierno de Chile STATEMENT OF THE MINISTERS AND HEADS OF DELEGATION FOR THE TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP COUNTRIESDecember 10, 2013|Singapore We, the Ministers and Heads of Delegation for Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States, and Vietnam, have just completed a four-day Ministerial meeting in Singapore where we have made substantial progress toward completing the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.
Over the course of this meeting, we identified potential “landing zones” for the majority of key outstanding issues in the text. We will continue to work with flexibility to finalize these text issues as well as market access issues. Therefore, we have decided to continue our intensive work in the coming weeks toward such an agreement. Following additional work by negotiatiors, we intend to meet again next month. U.S. restores diplomatic relations with Burma. Washington -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday that the United States will send an ambassador to Burma for the first time in two decades, restoring full diplomatic relations now that the long-isolated country has released hundreds of political prisoners and made other reforms.
Clinton's announcement that the two countries will exchange ambassadors came on a day of celebration in the streets of Burma after President Thein Sein issued pardons and freed 651 detainees, including some of its most famous political inmates. President Obama, in a statement, described the pardons as "a substantial step forward for democratic reform. " The U.S. decision follows a landmark visit by Clinton to the repressive country in December as a way to deepen engagement and encourage more openness there, although Washington will be maintaining hard-hitting economic and political sanctions for the time being.
"As I said last December, the United States will meet action with action. US Arms Sale to Taiwan and Power Politics with China. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao, Beijing, November 2009 (Getty Images) The White House approved a 6.4 billion dollar arms sale to Taiwan. US military equipment producers will send Taiwan, if approved by Congress, a package of Patriot interceptor missiles, Black Hawk helicopters, Harpoon land and sea missiles, mine hunting ships and communications equipment for Taiwan's aging F-16 fighters. China called the arms sale, "... a gross intervention into China's internal affairs [that] seriously endangers China's national security and harms China's peaceful reunification efforts. " History of China-Taiwan-US Relations In 1949, the Chinese Civil War ended with the Communists, led by Chairman Mao Zedong, establishing the People's Republic of China and the Nationalists retreating from mainland China to the island of Formosa better known as Taiwan and establishing the Republic of China.
The Arms Sale China's Response China is furious with the sale. What is the US Up To? See Also: Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou reelected, vows closer China ties. Incumbent Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou declares victory in Taipei… (Wally Santana / Associated…) Reporting from Taipei, Taiwan, and Beijing — Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou won reelection Saturday, receiving a mandate from voters that he vowed would spell closer economic ties with the island's old foe, China. Ma won 51% of the vote, compared with 46% for his chief rival, Tsai Ing-wen, after a tense campaign packed with criticism of his overtures to China. Ma had urged voters to see his attempts at rapprochement as a stimulus for the local economy, but was accused of getting too cozy with Taiwan's rival of more than 60 years.
"Ma will feel he now has a mandate to do what he wants, though if he goes too far people will be very unhappy," said J. And indeed, Beijing applauded the results. The People's Daily, run by the Chinese Communist Party, hailed Ma's reelection with an editorial that went up shortly after the results were announced. barbara.demick@latimes.com. Taiwanese president wins reelection, vows closer ties to China. REPORTING FROM TAIPEI, TAIWAN, AND BEIJING -- Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou won reelection Saturday, a mandate that he vowed in a victory speech in Taipei will spell more trade and economic links with the island’s old foe, China. Ma won 51% of the vote compared to his chief rival’s 46% after a tense campaign packed with criticism of his overtures to China. He had urged voters to see his attempts at rapprochement as stimulus for the economy, but was accused of getting too cozy with Taiwan’s rival of more than 60 years.
"Ma will feel he now has a mandate to do what he wants, though if he goes too far people will be very unhappy,” said Bruce Jacobs, Asian studies professor at Monash University in Australia. “China, I think, is happy that Ma has won. " And indeed, Beijing applauded the results. The People’s Daily, run by the Chinese Communist Party, hailed Ma’s reelection with an editorial that went up shortly after the results were announced. ElBaradei drops out of Egypt presidential race. US Pivot to Asia Leaves China off Balance. The Danger for US-China Ties. The US is wrong if it assumes it can always be business as usual after arms sales to Taiwan.
As China rises, the temptation to push back grows. By Wenran Jiang for The Diplomat October 01, 2011 Facebook0 Twitter0 Google+2 LinkedIn0 The Obama administration’s decision to sell $5.8 billion in arms to Taiwan has been roundly criticized by Beijing, and has clouded bilateral relations at a time of global economic uncertainty, increased tensions in the South China Sea and ahead of the leadership transition in China next year.
Unlike the $6.4 billion arms sales to Taiwan last year, which had been initiated by President George W. But by choosing to upgrade Taiwan’s existing fleet of F16 A/B fighters rather than offering the newest F16 C/D models as requested by Taiwan, Obama has also tried to mitigate Beijing’s concerns and soften its response. But in the long run, continued US arms sales to Taiwan will have a profoundly negative impact on how the Chinese mainland perceives US intentions. Risingpowers_policyalert_nov2011_pivot. The Spratly Islands Dispute: Order-Building on China’s terms? As the result of China’s participation in world trade and its consequent growing demand for overseas energy and raw materials, the South China Sea has become an increasingly important resource for Beijing.
China’s demand for imported energy resources is predicted to rise to 500 million tons of oil imports and over 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas by 2020. For comparison, in 2009 China imported 204 million tons of oil and just about 5 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Because of its rapidly increasing energy consumption, China will be more actively involved in oil and gas exploration in its adjacent sea areas and in securing the oil supply routes at sea. Other claimants, of course, value this resource for the same reasons and, just as in China’s case, have seen nationalism and geostrategic interests enter their policy equations.
Therefore, the South China Sea has been host to territorial disputes that are among the most contentious and volatile in the Asia-Pacific theater. South China Sea Tensions Overshadow New US Military Engagement | Asia. U.S. plans to send additional military personnel to Australia in the coming years have drawn mixed responses among Southeast Asian leaders who are wary of increasing the possibility of military confrontation. But analysts say ongoing territorial disputes about the South China Sea are an even greater worry. During a news conference following the East Asia Summit, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono did not say whether he supported or opposed the agreement between Australia and the United States to station up to 2,500 American forces in Australia in the next few years. He only said he was reassured that the U.S. is committed to maintaining peace in the region. Yudhoyono said he met with President Obama to officially hear that the U.S. has no intention of disturbing any of Australia's neighboring countries.
Thayer said the United States is especially appreciated when it comes to dealing with China about territorial disputes in the South China Sea. David Carden , U.S. Spratly Islands Dispute. Philippines roils South China Sea.