The four-star general also disclosed that the U.S. Air Force would dispatch "fighters, tankers, and at some point in the future, maybe bombers on a rotation basis" to bases in northern Australia. The air force has already flown training missions into RAAF Base Darwin, with a nuclear-capable B-52 arriving from Guam last May. The U.S. is to deploy six B-52s on Guam.

The number of U.S. Marines deployed on rotation in Darwin will reach 1,150 next year, and by 2016, a fully equipped force of 2,500 will operate out of Darwin.

The Obama administration is also basing four state of the art littoral combat ships in Singapore. The first one has already arrived and recently took part in U.S.-Filipino joint naval exercises.

The U.S. and the Philippines are discussing Washington's plans to deploy more American troops to the country, what Washington calls "an increased rotational presence" supposedly still under the "Visiting Forces Agreement" (VFA). Manila is also planning to develop a former U.S. naval base at Subic Bay, supposedly a Philippine base, but to be used by t U.S. Navy ships.

In short, everything is in place for the Pentagon's carefully planned AirSea Battle -- a massive naval and air assault on China's missile sites, military bases and command centers.

Admittedly, that is only one side of the story, as the United States is pursuing a dual strategy of both containment and engagement. One must mention the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Obama in California, at which both sides agreed that the two countries are not enemies.

Common sense tells us that the prospect of an armed conflict is remote, if not entirely out of the question. That is rather obvious. They have to work together to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. They need to work together to avoid a global economic meltdown.

In short, they understand the overall situation only too well: Cooperate and both sides win; struggle and both lose.

But things are more complicated than that. There are three branches of the American government. Recently the Senate adopted a non-binding resolution to side with Japan on the Diaoyu Island issue and condemn China for its "threats." The House wants to sell arms to Taiwan.

All of these dissonances have to be managed in order to ensure that the music keeps playing harmoniously.

*A tael is roughly equivalent to 38 grams and is a monetary unit formerly used in China.

The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.h5a3.com/opinion/zhaojinglun.htm

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