(2) William Lowther, Ex-US officials praise Taiwan’s conflict resolution. Taipei Times, Jan 17, 2014
www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/01/17/2003581476
("Former US assistant secretary of state for East Asian affairs Kurt Campbell and former National Security Council director for Asian affairs Michael Green * * * During a discussion on 'Crisis in the East China Sea,' organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington")
Quote:
"He [Campbell] added that the region that has seen the biggest increase in defense spending over the past several years is Asia — and not the Middle East. 'And it’s not just China, Japan and South Korea — it’s countries in Southeast Asia,” he said. “This is a region that is arming up.'
"Campbell said that the biggest risk was an unintended action — something unpredictable — like an exhausted fisherman deciding to crash his boat into another country’s military vessel and the incident spiraling out of hand. 'There is virtually no chance of some sort of larger preplanned armed conflict,' he said.
"China has a very different concept of deterrence from the US, he [Campbell] added. While the US shows off its military to keep other countries in line, China keeps its forces secret in the belief that uncertainty will cause potential enemies to be more careful, he said.
'There are very deep differences in strategic culture,' he said. |