U.S. trying to foster stability in Asia

WASHINGTON -- The United States rapidly is expanding military ties in Asia, where President Bush is visiting three countries this week, as it fights terrorism and tries to promote regional stability.

In the most visible example, about 600 U.S. troops over the weekend began advising Filipino troops fighting Muslim extremists on a southern island.

But U.S. military leaders and Bush administration officials also are talking with Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia about ways to increase military cooperation to pursue possible members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network or other terrorists.

Congress recently passed a bill that would establish a counterterrorism training program for officers in Southeast Asian armies.

The CIA quietly is beginning to arm and train counterterrorist teams and intelligence services of other U.S. allies, including in Southeast Asia, U.S. officials say.

Such efforts apparently have rattled China, already opposed to American support for Taiwan and the Bush administration's decision to build anti-missile defenses.

"If the Chinese chose to become alarmed, they'd have a lot of reasons to be alarmed," because of the growing U.S. military presence around them, said John Pike, a defense analyst for Globalsecurity.org in Washington.

Relations still cordial

Relations between China and the United States remain cordial since Sept. 11. China has supported the anti-terrorism effort, fearing Islamic militancy itself in Central Asia, and that has defused some tension.

The commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, Adm. Dennis C. Blair, said recently he hopes the cooperation on terrorism will even lead to more direct military cooperation with China.

"There are areas where the PLA (People's Liberation Army) and the armed forces of the United States could cooperate whenever it's in both of our interests," Blair said. "And I would hope that the campaign against terrorism would be able to provide that kind of an opportunity."

Bush will visit Japan, South Korea and China.

Southeast Asia is not the only place where the U.S. military is expanding. In Central Asia, too, the United States has set up a military presence in former Soviet republics such as Uzbekistan, to help with the war in Afghanistan.

Some military analysts think that overall, the American military global presence is more pervasive today than ever in American history.

In Southeast Asia, the U.S. military had a large presence going back a half-century. It has about 47,000 troops in Japan under a mutual security treaty and 38,000 troops in South Korea to deter a possible invasion from North Korea. It also has a security agreement with Australia.

But U.S. military ties in the region expanded substantially beyond those traditional allies during the Clinton administration.

Now during the war on terrorism, "Having all these military relationships makes it much easier to project American power," Pike said.