Admiral stresses more talk between navies

Admiral stresses more talk between navies

By Rod McGuirk - The Associated Press

Posted : Thursday May 3, 2007 8:05:12 EDT

CANBERRA, Australia — China will likely expand its navy and send its ships further out on the high seas to take a more active role in securing global sea lanes vital to its burgeoning economy, the U.S. naval commander in Japan said Thursday.

Rear Adm. James Kelly said the strategic shift heightened the need for operational transparency between the world’s navies “so we don’t have a misinterpretation of something out on the high seas.”

“As their economy continues to grow ... I suspect that China is thinking that they need to have a blue water navy to protect their interests around the globe,” Kelly told reporters, referring to a fleet of ships capable of traveling great distances.

Kelly, in Canberra on Thursday to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea, said China signaled the change in October last year when a Chinese submarine surfaced near a U.S. carrier group in international waters off Japan.

“We have in the past maybe had more of an expectation that they would stay very close to their own territorial waters and not operate that much outside of those waters,” Kelly said. “So I think it’s probably a sign of things to come.”

Kelly predicted that the Chinese planned to protect global sea lanes, such as those that bring iron ore and natural gas from Australia and have helped China become the world’s biggest economy after the U.S. and Japan.

“I would say in the sea lanes to and from — between whatever their major ports are that they’re hauling in the minerals and things ... that will be coming from Australia — I certainly would envision them keeping an eye on those sea lanes,” Kelly said.

“It’s pretty obvious to all of us, I think, that the Chinese navy is building up as well as many of their other forces. Their build up is certainly associated with a growing economy.” he added.

Visits between the Chinese and American militaries dropped off after the collision of a U.S. spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet off China’s coast in 2001.

Relations have been improving recently as U.S. leaders cautiously seek to increase exchanges and better understand China’s rapidly modernizing People’s Liberation Army, the world’s largest.

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