"WHO LOST THE PACIFIC OCEAN?"

At the moment, China has no operational aircraft carriers but we are warned that "could possess the largest fleet of modern submarine and combatant ships in the western Pacific by 2020" and this is the gist of the report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission:

The primary recommendation is that Congress fund shipbuilding and increase the Navy's operational presence region in support of the Defense Department's goal to base 60 percent of its warships in the Asia-Pacific region by 2020, compared with about 50 percent currently.

That's a priority of the Obama administration's diplomatic and military rebalance to Asia after a decade of war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The commission said it welcomes the policy, but added: "There is growing concern among U.S. allies and partners that the Department of Defense will be unable to follow through on its commitment to the rebalance due to declining defense budget and continuing security challenges elsewhere."

I noticed that at least one member of this board should be removed ASAP because of his ideology:

Peter Brookes
Commissioner Brookes is currently a senior fellow for National Security Affairs at The Heritage Foundation. Prior to Heritage, he served in the George W. Bush Administration as the deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Affairs, with the Committee on International Relations in the U.S. House of Representatives, at the Central Intelligence Agency, at the State Department at the United Nations, in the defense industry, and in the U.S. Navy. He is a doctoral candidate at Georgetown University, and a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, the Defense Language Institute, the Naval War College, and The John Hopkins University. Reappointed for a two-year term expiring December 31, 2013.