Mike Pompeo made these remarks at the Brussels 2020 Virtual Forum. (File)
Washington:
The United States is reviewing its global deployment of forces to ensure it is well-positioned to counter the People’s Liberation Army, given the growing threat posed by China to Asian countries such as India, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Thursday.
Pompeo made the remarks in response to a question at the Brussels Marshall Virtual Forum 2020 of the German Marshall Fund.
“We will ensure that we are well positioned to counter the PLA. We believe the challenge of our time, and we will ensure that we have the resources in place to do so,” said Mr. Pompeo.
The posture of forces review is being conducted under the leadership of President Donald Trump, in which the United States is reducing the number of its troops in Germany from around 52,000 to 25,000, he said.
Mike Pompeo said the posture of the force would be dictated by the realities on the ground.
“In some places there will be fewer American resources. There will be other places – I just talked about the threat from the Chinese Communist Party, so now threats against India, threats against Vietnam, threats against Malaysia , Indonesia, the challenges of the South China Sea, the Philippines, “he said.
“As this has changed, the difference in what the United States has decided to do has a negative impact on a threat in one place, other nations may need to step up and take the responsibility for their own defense in a way they had not done before. So we want to do it in full consultation with all of our partners around the world, and certainly our friends in Europe, “said Pompeo.
President Trump is criticized for reducing his troops from Germany. Critics say it will increase Russia’s threat to Europe.
Mike Pompeo, however, disagreed with this argument.
It has been a long time since there has been a strategic review of our posture of strength anywhere in the world. The United States started this about 2.5 years ago, whether it be our forces in Africa, our forces in Asia, the force we have in the Middle East and in Europe, he said.
“We started to say that these are often decisions that were made at a different time. Should we reallocate them in a different way? Should we have a different composition of these forces? Everyone always wants to talk about ground troops. I understand. I was a young tank officer. You described it. There’s nothing I like as much as a good M1 tank.
“But it often happens that the ability to deter Russia or other adversaries is no longer determined by simply having a group of people garrisoned somewhere. So, we really went back fundamentally, what is the nature of the conflict , what is the nature of the threat, and how should we allocate our resources, whether it be our resources in the intelligence community, our air force resources or the navies and the military, “said said Mr. Pompeo.
Last week, Mike Pompeo criticized the Chinese military for “escalating” border tension with India and militarizing the strategic South China Sea. He also described the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as a “rogue actor”.
“How do we distribute our wide range of security device allocations, our ability to counter cyber threats?” What is the best way to do this? And the decision you see the President made with regard to Germany is a result of a set of collective decisions on how we are going to position our resources in the world, “said the top diplomat on Thursday American.
Posture changes are underway during consultations with allies and friends, said Pompeo.
“President Trump has talked about it. Secretary (of Defense) (Mark) Esper will be in London today and in Brussels tomorrow. We will talk about our plan and how we plan to carry it out,” he said. -he declares.
“But you have to understand this, and I hope our European partners will understand it too. When you see what we finally conclude, how we end up acting on the president’s statements, that they directly target what we believe to be the case. “the fundamental interest of democracies and certainly the most fundamental interest of America,” said Mr. Pompeo.
Earlier this month, Mike Pompeo said that China’s actions, whether on the Indian border, in Hong Kong or in the South China Sea, were part of the behavior of the ruling Communist Party in Beijing in a recent past.
China has rapidly expanded its military and economic influence in the Indo-Pacific region, raising concerns in various countries in the region and beyond.
China is involved in hotly contested territorial disputes in the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing has built and militarized many islands and reefs it controls in the region. Both regions are said to be rich in minerals, petroleum and other natural resources and are vital to world trade.
