CCTV Asks Kerry: Are There Two US Policies, Yours and Ash Carter’s?

During the Tuesday press conference between John Kerry and Wang Yi, China’s CCTV posed a question directly hitting at the divergence of policies between Obama’s Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and those of Kerry himself. CCTV asked: “On the U.S.-China relationship, this relationship seems to be developing on two different tracks. On the security side, you have your colleague, Secretary Carter, specifying China two weeks ago as the most stressing competitor, and asked for more budget to upgrade America’s weaponry and capabilities in Asia Pacific. However, on the diplomatic and economic side, part of which is led by you, you have this largest trading relationship in the world and you have increasing China-U.S. partnership on Iran, on climate change, for example. So at this point, do you think the Pentagon, the PACOM, and the State Department led by you really want the same thing for this relationship?” Kerry said “it’s a very, very good question,” and insisted “There is only one foreign policy in the United States, and I have expressed that policy….” He claimed that “PACOM and DOD and State Department and CIA and all of our national security team are on the same page with respect to our policy with respect to the region.”

Meanwhile, PACOM Chief Adm. Harry Harris proved otherwise in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday, saying: “I believe China seeks hegemony in East Asia. Simple as that…. China is clearly militarizing the South China Sea and you’d have to believe in the flat Earth to think otherwise…. China’s surface-to-air missiles on Woody Island, the new radars on the Cuarteron Reef, the 10,000-foot runway on Subi Reef over here and on Fiery Cross Reef and other places, these are actions that are changing in my opinion the operational landscape in the South China Sea.” He railed that “I need increased lethality, specifically ships and aircraft equipped with faster, more lethal, and more survivable weapons systems. We must have longer range offensive weapons on every platform.”