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Home : Media : Speeches / Testimony

# STATEMENT: Before the Senate Armed Service Committee on Maritime Security Strategy in the Asia-Pacific Region 17

By ADM. HARRY B. HARRIS, JR. U.S. Navy Commander, U.S. Pacific Command

ChairmanMcCain, Senator Reed, and distinguished members, it’s my honor to appear onceagain before this committee. I am pleased to be here with Assistant SecretaryShear to discuss the Asia Pacific Maritime Security Strategy.  
TheUnited States is a maritime nation and the importance of Asia-Pacific region toour Nation’s security and prosperity cannot be overstated. Almost 30 percent ofthe world’s maritime trade – $5.3 trillion – transits the South China Seaannually. This includes $1.2 trillion in ship-borne trade bound for the UnitedStates. The Asia-Pacific region is critical for our nation’s economic future.  
Fordecades, this region has remained free from major conflicts, allowing theUnited States and other Pacific nations, including China, to enjoy the benefitsof its vast maritime spaces. However, the security environment is changing,potentially placing this stability at risk. Rapid economic and militarymodernization and a growing demand for resources have increased the potentialfor conflict. Peacetime freedom of navigation is under pressure. 
If nothandled properly, territorial and maritime disputes in the East and South ChinaSeas could disrupt stability throughout the region. Claimants to disputed areasroutinely use maritime law enforcement and coast guard vessels to enforce theirclaims while nominally keeping these issues out of the military sphere. Whileno country appears to desire military conflict, tactical miscalculations canlead to strategic consequences. 
TheUnited States does not take sides on issues of sovereignty with respect tothese territorial disputes, but we do insist that all maritime claims bederived from naturally-formed land features in accordance with customaryinternational law, as reflected in the Law of the Sea Convention. The UnitedStates also emphasizes the importance of peacefully resolving maritime andterritorial disagreements in accordance with international law, and we opposethe use of intimidation, coercion, or aggression. The U.S. believes everynation, large or small, should have the opportunity to develop and prosper, inline with international laws and standards. If one country selectively ignoresthese rules for its own benefit, others will undoubtedly follow, eroding theinternational legal system and destabilizing regional security and theprosperity of all Pacific states. Part of PACOM’s role in the Asia-PacificMaritime Strategy will be ensuring all nations have continued access to themaritime spaces vital to the global economy. 
Internationalrecognition and protection of freedom of navigation is vital to the world’seconomy and our way of life. To safeguard the freedom of the seas, USPACOMroutinely exercises with allies and partners, executes Freedom of Navigationoperations, and maintains a robust presence throughout the region. Theseactivities help build partner capacity to contribute to the region’s security,enhance relationships, improve understanding of shared challenges, and messagethe U.S.’s resolve. 
TheAsia-Pacific Maritime Security Strategy outlines our plan to safeguard freedomof the seas, deter conflict, and promote adherence to international law andstandards. It reaffirms our commitment to the principles found in UNCLOS. Inaccordance with this strategy and in pursuit of these goals, Pacific Command’sforces will fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows, whilecontinuing to strengthen the relationships and rule of law that enabled thepeaceful rise of every nation in the region. 
Afundamental factor in the feasibility of this new strategy has been theRebalance to the Pacific. The Rebalance, initiated almost four years ago byPresident Obama, set the conditions for the implementation of this strategy.The Rebalance strengthened treaty alliances and partnerships, increased partnercapacity and cooperation, improved interoperability, and increased securitycapabilities in the region. DoD’s new maritime strategy capitalizes on themomentum of the Rebalance and continues with its initiatives. In executing thenew maritime strategy, PACOM will continue to: 
    ·        Employthe most advanced and capable platforms as they are deployed or assigned to thePacific. 
    ·        Use theforward presence of military forces to engage allies and partners and deteraggression. 
    ·        Reinforceinternationally accepted rules and norms including the concepts of freedom ofnavigation and innocent passage. 
    ·        Trainand exercise with allies and partners to increase interoperability and buildtrust.  
    ·        Implementrisk reduction mechanisms such as the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea andthe U.S.-China Confidence  Building Measures to help prevent accidents andtactical miscalculations. 
    ·        Continuedeepening alliances and partnerships through strategic efforts in places likeJapan, Korea, Australia, Thailand  and the Philippines, while building new anddeeper military relationships in places like Singapore, India, Vietnam, and with other like- minded friends and partners.
Thank you for yourcontinued support to USPACOM and our men and women in uniform, and theirfamilies, who live and work in the vast Asia-Pacific region. I look forward toanswering your questions. 
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