SINGAPORE — In a parting pitch to Asian allies, retiring U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Pentagon is considering steps to widen its military presence across the Pacific Rim. He said budget woes won’t interfere.
“America is, as the expression goes, putting ‘our money where our mouth is’ with respect to this part of the world — and will continue to do so,” he told Asia’s premier security conference, the Shangri-La Dialogue, today.
On his final overseas trip before stepping down June 30 — and his seventh to Asia in the past 18 months — Gates insisted that Americans’ war weariness and debt worries should not be seen as setting the stage for a shrinking of U.S. commitments in Asia. On the leading sources of U.S. security concerns in Asia — North Korea and China — he made only brief mention.
Friday evening, Gates met with his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Liang Guanglie. Gates told Liang he thinks the military-to-military relationship is “on a positive trajectory.” The Associated Press
