Latest news with #U.S.NAVY
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Russia has its own interests in the region as the U.S. shifts its focus there from Europe
U.S. NAVY / 2012 The Russian navy ship Admiral Panteleyev transits the waters of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam during a Rim of the Pacific exercise. 1 /2 U.S. NAVY / 2012 The Russian navy ship Admiral Panteleyev transits the waters of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam during a Rim of the Pacific exercise. STAR-ADVERTISER / 2012 Russian crewmen inspected docks the last time Russian ships came into Pearl Harbor for RIMPAC in 2012, their first time. 2 /2 STAR-ADVERTISER / 2012 Russian crewmen inspected docks the last time Russian ships came into Pearl Harbor for RIMPAC in 2012, their first time. U.S. NAVY / 2012 The Russian navy ship Admiral Panteleyev transits the waters of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam during a Rim of the Pacific exercise. STAR-ADVERTISER / 2012 Russian crewmen inspected docks the last time Russian ships came into Pearl Harbor for RIMPAC in 2012, their first time. As the Trump administration pushes efforts to end the war in Ukraine and shift its attention to the Pacific, the Russian navy's Pacific fleet has been asserting its presence. In late March the Russian submarine Ufa, one of the Russian Pacific fleet's newest missile subs, launched cruise missiles from a position in the Sea of Japan. The Ufa is considered one of the world's most silent submarines, and has been reportedly referred to as a 'black hole ' in Russia's submarine fleet by its rivals due to difficulty tracking the stealthy sub. Meanwhile, U.S. Navy jets responded to a Russian spy plane flying near the American aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson as it sailed through the Pacific on its way to the Indian Ocean for operations against Houthi militants in Yemen. Spy planes regularly monitor the military activity of other countries, but commentators noted that released video of the incident indicated this plane was flying lower—and closer—than normal. Before making its way to the Middle East, the Vinson had been training with South Korean and Japanese forces as Seoul condemned what it called repeated airspace intrusions by the Russian military. Though Russia has taken heavy military and economic losses since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, in some ways Russian forces are also feeling a new confidence amid the bloody stalemate. The annual U.S. intelligence community threat assessment, released in March, said that 'the war in Ukraine has afforded Moscow a wealth of lessons regarding combat against Western weapons and intelligence in a large-scale war. This experience probably will challenge future U.S. defense planning, including against other adversaries with whom Moscow is sharing those lessons learned.' Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. Professor Yu Koizumi, an expert on the Russian military at the University of Tokyo, said the European conflict has been a drain on Russia's military forces along its Pacific coast but that it remains a major player in the region that shouldn't be dismissed. 'Since the war began, I have been observing the facilities of the Russian Far East military using satellite images, and the Russian military (presence ) in this region has further decreased, ' said Koizumi. 'However, Russia is able to combine its relatively small (Pacific ) military force with its political behavior to create a significant impact. In this sense, it is worth noting that the nuclear submarine and bomber forces in the Russian Far East have not decreased, and in fact the former has been strengthened.' Russia has sought to deepen military and economic coordination with China and North Korea. In February at the Honolulu Defense Forum, an international military affairs conference hosted by the Honolulu-based Pacific Forum, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command chief Adm. Samuel Pa paro referred to the three as a 'triangle of troublemakers ' and an 'axis of autocracy ' that he said threatens stability in the Pacific. 'Russia views itself as an Indo-Pacific power, with much of its territory bordering Northeast Asia, ' said Kimberly Lehn, a senior director at the Pacific Forum who planned the conference. 'Russia's engagement in the region can be viewed as a means to demonstrate great-power status and counterbalance Western influence while advancing its own strategic interests.' 'Much more active' Russia has for some time sought to focus more on the Pacific as it looks to harvest its vast oil and natural gas reserves to export to growing economies across Asia. That interest has only grown as melting arctic ice caps potentially open up new sea routes through the Arctic linking the Pacific and Atlantic. Koizumi said that 'Europe, which was (Russia's ) largest trading partner, has reached the limits of its growth and has become a geopolitical enemy. In this context, Russia's attention has turned to the countries of the Asia-Pacific region, which have a lot of growth potential and are not its geopolitical enemies.' In June 2021 the Russian military launched what it called the largest exercise it had conducted in the Pacific Ocean since the end of the Cold War—400 miles west of Hawaii with a variety of warships, anti-submarine aircraft, fighter jets and long-range bombers. Hawaii National Guard F-22 fighter jets scrambled several times to respond to Russian aircraft flying close to Hawaii's airspace. Since then Russian forces have been spotted conducting joint patrols with Chinese forces around Japan, the Korean Peninsula, Guam and Alaska. Koizumi said Chinese forces operating in waters claimed by Russia like the Sea of Okhotsk, with Moscow's blessing, changes the equation for Japan, explaining that 'even if we are preparing for the threat from China, we can't just think about the southwest of Japan ; we also need to look to the north. Russia has made this possible.' Lehn noted that 'last year it was reported that the Chinese military exercised with Russian air and maritime forces in the Bering Sea that included ships and long-range aviation. Their military exercises have become a common practice and beg the question as to where they might cooperate next.' Koizumi said that 'the strengthening of the Russian Pacific fleet is not progressing uniformly, ' and pointed out that the fleet has not received any new destroyers for 30 years and has been getting smaller warships. He said that means 'the number of surface vessels in the Pacific fleet is on a downward trend. This trend is not expected to change significantly in the near future.' But the story beneath the surface is different. An American intelligence official in Hawaii told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that since the beginning of the Ukraine war, Russia has delivered seven new submarines to its Pacific fleet, with the Ufa arriving in 2024. It's not uncommon for U.S. forces to detect Russian submarines lurking beneath the surface in waters around Hawaii, according to current and former U.S. military personnel who spoke to the Star-Advertiser. American submarines also routinely conduct operations near Russian and Chinese waters. 'According to my analysis using satellite imagery, the Russian Pacific fleet's (ballistic missile submarines ) have become much more active in recent years, ' said Koizumi. 'In particular, in 2024 the (subs ) made six patrols, the most of any year, and some of these were long voyages of more than two months. Since I began observing, the Russian Pacific fleet was most active last year.' Despite growing military cooperation among Russia, China and North Korea, the intelligence official said Moscow 'has been ungenerous with submarine technology ' and has worked hard to protect those secrets. He argued that despite increased cooperation, Russia and China are not 'natural allies.' In 1969 the two fought a violent, bitter border conflict, and many officials on either side distrust each other. New strategies But close relationships among Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Chinese leader Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have helped tighten their alliances. The war in Ukraine and sanctions against Russia by the U.S. and Europe have pushed Putin to lean into those partnerships even more. Lehn said that 'both China and North Korea have enabled Russia's war machine to continue (in Ukraine ), whether it is China purchasing oil and gas, sending technology and equipment, or North Korea sending munition and troops to fight on the front lines. These efforts have explicitly linked the Indo-Pacific to Europe and likely means Russia will be required to return any support to China and North Korea should a kinetic conflict arise in the Pacific, whether in the Taiwan Strait or on the Korean Peninsula.' In 2023, Putin broke with years of neutrality when it came to China and Taiwan. China regards Taiwan, a self-ruled island democracy, as a rogue province, and Xi has vowed to bring it under his control by any means. After years of trading with Taiwan, Putin endorsed China's position and officially added the island to Russia's list of 'unfriendly countries.' In 2024 the leaders of Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand traveled to Washington, D.C., for the annual NATO summit. The four aren't NATO members, but regularly cooperate with the alliance. During the summit, the growing relationship among China, Russia and North Korea was a major point of discussion. At the same time as the summit, the militaries of several NATO counties were participating in Exercise Rim of the Pacific in Hawaii for the first time as they looked to increase Pacific engagement. But the Trump administration's approach to Russia has drawn concern—and in some cases bafflement—from traditional American allies. Trump has repeatedly criticized Ukraine, accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of provoking Russia into invading by not 'making a deal ' with Russian invaders, and expressed a preference for dealing with Putin and other Russian officials whom he says he finds easier to deal with. In an interview with Breitbart, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration hopes to improve relations with Russia and seek cooperation in a way that can pull it from its increasingly deep relationship with China, comparing it to President Richard Nixon's embrace of China during the Cold War. However, while Nixon exploited existing hostilities between China and the Soviet Union, today Moscow and Beijing have unprecedented cooperation. 'Dialogue is important, and you need to do so to broker an agreement, and if you can achieve other significant concessions, then that's worthy to pursue, ' Lehn said. 'But I think we should be concerned and skeptical with any collaboration or cooperation with Russia or China. Ultimately, China and Russia have different strategic goals and are paving the terms for a new international order that is based on their interests and leadership, not ours. That understanding should be our underlying compass.' While Trump's approach in Europe has caused consternation among NATO allies, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in March went on a Pacific tour that included stops in Hawaii, Guam, Japan and the Philippines. During the trip Hegseth asserted that the Pacific is the most important region for the U.S. and pledged to back regional allies in their disputes with China over territorial and navigation rights. But American Pacific allies like Japan and South Korea are still watching Russia with unease as well. In the U.S. intelligence assessment, the nation's spy chiefs concluded that 'despite having paid enormous military and economic costs in its war with Ukraine, Russia has proven adaptable and resilient. … President Vladimir Putin appears resolved and prepared to pay a very high price to prevail in what he sees as a defining time in Russia's strategic competition with the United States, world history, and his personal legacy.'
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Defense secretary stops in Hawaii as part of Pacific tour
JOHN BELLINO / U.S. NAVY Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had a light moment Monday with Adm. Samuel J. Paparo, commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. JOHN BELLINO / U.S. NAVY Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had a light moment Monday with Adm. Samuel J. Paparo, commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is on Oahu to meet with Pacific military leaders to discuss China and other security priorities in the region. It's part of a Pacific tour that will include stops in Guam, Japan and the Philippines in his first visit to the region in his role as Pentagon chief. U.S. Indo-Pacific Command did not respond to questions about Hegseth's visit, but photos released by the military on social media showed that soon after touching down on Oahu, he went to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command headquarters at Camp Smith, where he met with INDO PACOM chief Adm. Samuel Paparo and other members of the military's senior leadership in the Pacific, the Pentagon's top-priority theater of operations. In a statement released Friday, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Hegseth will meet with American and allied forces and that in Japan he will participate in a ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima. Parnell said, 'Secretary Hegseth's trip comes as the United States builds on unprecedented cooperation with like-minded countries to strengthen regional security.' The U.S. military is preparing for Exercise Balikatan in the Philippines, a large exercise in which Philippine, American, Australian and Japanese militaries will train to repel a simulated ocean invasion. The Hawaii-based 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment and Army 25th Infantry Division are set to participate. The exercise will focus on the western portions of the archipelago facing the South China Sea—where real-world tensions have boiled. Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. China considers the critical waterway—which more than a third of all international trade travels through—to be its exclusive sovereign territory over the objections of the Philippines and other countries that border it. China has seized several disputed islands and reefs and attacked fishermen and other maritime workers from the Philippines and other neighboring countries. Hegseth has pledged to scale back U.S. military operations in Europe and the Middle East to focus on competing with China in the Pacific. He also pledged to 'rebuild ' the American military with a focus on obtaining new weapons, investing in the defense industry and building up forces—while simultaneously cutting Pentagon spending. The Trump administration has promised to reduce the Department of Defense's budget by 8 % each year as part of sweeping cuts being undertaken across the federal government. But while Hegseth supports budget cuts, he specifically requested that the Hawaii-based U.S. Indo-Pacific Command—which oversees all operations across the Pacific—be exempt from any reductions. During his congressional confirmation hearing, Hegseth said that 'we're going to reestablish deterrence. First and foremost, we will defend our homeland, our borders and our skies. Second, we will work with our partners and allies to deter aggression in the Indo-Pacific from the Communist Chinese. And finally, we will responsibly end wars to ensure that we prioritize our resources to reorient to larger threats.' Hawaii is the nerve center for all U.S. military operations in the region, and troops from other countries in the region have increasingly come to the islands to train with American forces. Hawaii has the highest share of the military's construction budget of any state, accounting for roughly 8 % of the total. That includes $1.2 billion for Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard's Dry Dock 5, a dock to service new nuclear submarines and the most expensive construction project in Navy history. Hegseth has promised to cut Pentagon bureaucracy to more quickly acquire new weapons, equipment and munitions to maximize the military's 'lethality.' Many military leaders, including Paparo, have welcomed the pledge. In November, Paparo told an audience at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., that American munitions used to shoot down missiles and drones from Iranian-backed militants in the Middle East, and munitions sent to Ukrainian forces to help them fight back against invading Russian forces, threatened stocks of available weapons to potentially fight China in a Pacific conflict, saying, 'It's now eating into stocks, and to say otherwise would be dishonest.' In February, Paparo told attendees at the Honolulu Defense Forum, 'Our magazines run low, our maintenance backlogs grow longer each month for every critical joint force element—Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Space Force, Coast Guard. Critical air, missile, maritime, space platforms age faster than we can replace them perfectly, and we operate on increasingly thin margins of error. Our opponents see these gaps, and they are moving aggressively to exploit them.' While the military plays a central role in Hawaii's economy, bringing in an estimated $8.8 billion and making up 8.9 % of the gross domestic product, its footprint in the islands has drawn scrutiny. Millions of dollars also have been spent on cleaning up environmental contamination associated with the military presence in the islands. That includes the ongoing effort to shut down the Navy's Red Hill fuel facility, which in 2021 leaked jet fuel into the service's Oahu water system, which serves 93, 000 people including service members and their families and civilians living in former military areas. Thousands reported suffering serious rashes, digestive problems and other symptoms. The Navy is now working to shut down the facility, which sits just 100 feet about the aquifer most of Oahu relies on for drinking water. The military also seeks to renew leases on several state-owned lands that were leased to the Army in 1964 for $1, which the U.S. and allied militaries have been using to train together. The state wants the military to agree to continue environmental protection and remediation programs on those lands, as well as preservation of ancient Native Hawaiian sites. Recent congressional legislation requires the military to actively combat invasive species on lands it controls in Hawaii, including the coconut rhinoceros beetle, which has been ravaging palm trees across Hawaii. Hegseth, for his part, has said he intends to scale back environmental and cultural programs, which he has derided as wasting time and money. Hegseth, who served as an infantry officer in Iraq and Afghanistan, has argued most of these programs have distracted the military from focusing on acquiring weapons and training for combat operations. It's not yet clear whether the Pentagon's new leadership might push for military environmental cleanup and protection programs in Hawaii to be downsized or eliminated. © 2025 The New York Times Company 1 Comments By participating in online discussions you acknowledge that you have agreed to the. An insightful discussion of ideas and viewpoints is encouraged, but comments must be civil and in good taste, with no personal attacks. 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Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Cuts to Hawaii's federal workforce loom
U.S. NAVY / 2024 The U.S. government employs thousands of civilian workers at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. The Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS North Carolina enters Dry Dock 1 at the shipyard. U.S. NAVY / 2024 The U.S. government employs thousands of civilian workers at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. The Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS North Carolina enters Dry Dock 1 at the shipyard. Fear and uncertainty loom large over how much smaller the federal workforce in Hawaii will become under an unfolding multipronged effort by President Donald Trump, though the impact may be less, relative to other states. The number of civilians employed by the federal government in Hawaii is close to midway among states. But the local federal workforce is heavily concentrated in the defense sector, which has not been among top targets mentioned by Trump so far. Trump on Tuesday issued an executive order directing leaders of all federal agencies to prepare to initiate 'large-scale ' reductions in force, excluding military personnel and jobs related to public safety, law enforcement or immigration enforcement. The order, aimed at eliminating 'waste, bloat, and insularity, ' follows a recent buyout offer accepted by about 75, 000 federal workers around the country and a hiring freeze that included a recommendation to rescind around 200, 000 job offers and jobs for probationary employees. Hawaii was home to about 35, 500 federal civilian workers last year, according to the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Eugene Tian, DBEDT's chief economist, said this group represents 5.6 % of Hawaii's workforce. 'It is significant, ' he said. Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. Tian also expects there will be negative economic impact locally from the president's initiative to downsize the federal workforce, but to what extent he won't even guess. 'I don't think anybody knows what would be the magnitude, ' Tian said. Trump is largely relying on a team of private-industry volunteers led by the world's richest man, Elon Musk, to engineer job cuts under the 'Department of Government Efficiency, ' which is not an official government agency. The president claims that his objective is to make the federal workforce, which includes 2.4 million employees excluding active-duty military and U.S. Postal Service workers, more efficient. Meanwhile, legal challenges have been made to stop job cuts.—RELATED : Carl Bonham, director of the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, said local federal worker job cuts tied only to the buyout and recent hires could offset total expected job growth for the state this year if the cuts are in proportion to the national total estimated at close to 300, 000 cuts. Nationally, these cuts represent about 12 % of the federal civilian workforce. A 12 % cut locally would amount to 4, 260 jobs. However, Bonham expects the proportion of job cuts in Hawaii will be smaller, perhaps 10 % or less than that, because the composition of the federal workforce in Hawaii, dominated by the Navy, is so much different than in most of the country. 'These aren't workers at the Consumer (Financial ) Protection Bureau who are under attack, ' he said. 'There's reason to think that Hawaii won't see job losses in the same proportion as nationally because the mix is so different here. But we don't have a lot to go on. Let's say it's between 5 and 10 %. It's still a lot.' Heavy on defense According to the most recent data from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the five agencies with the most civilian workers in Hawaii as of last May were, in order, the Navy, the Department of Defense, the Army, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Air Force. The Navy's civilian personnel totaled 11, 807, close to half of Hawaii's 24, 330 federal worker total reported by OPM, which is less than DBEDT's tally. A spokesperson for the Navy's Office of Information in Washington, D.C., said they could not comment on how civilian Navy jobs in Hawaii may be impacted by the president's job-cutting initiative. One federal employee in Hawaii working in the defense sector said there is an expectation among colleagues that jobs tied to national defense will be more insulated from cuts, but there has been no information communicated from higher-level officials one way or another. 'Broadly speaking, the general public should fear cuts to defense, ' said the employee, who asked not to be named out of concern for their employment. In Hawaii, the biggest contingent of federal employees work at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, which repairs ships and submarines and is undergoing a $3.4 billion expansion and modernization project that began last year and is projected for completion in 2028. Outside the defense sector, the federal civilian workforce in Hawaii is considerably smaller. Agency distribution The sixth biggest employer in Hawaii among federal agencies was the Department of Agriculture, with 860 workers mostly within an animal and plant health inspection service followed by research, according to OPM data. The Department of the Interior had the next biggest number of employees in Hawaii at 635. All these jobs, according to OPM, were divided between the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Survey. Hawaii has two national parks, the Pearl Harbor National Memorial and several historical parks or sites governed by NPS. Elizabeth Fien, president and CEO of Friends of Hawai 'i Volcanoes National Park, a nonprofit that helps preserve and interpret the park's natural and cultural resources, recently said several new or incoming NPS employees, including a trail supervisor and an engineer, have had their employment rescinded since Trump began his initiative. Nationally, much of the job-cut or job-freeze focus so far has been at agencies including the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the General Services Administration, the Department of Education, the Department of Energy and Veterans Affairs. The only agencies on this list with employees in Hawaii, according to the federal data, was the VA, with 2, 177, and the GSA, with 52 split between public buildings service and acquisition service. Other major sources of federal employment locally include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with 376 employees, the Federal Aviation Administration with 364 employees and the Department of Homeland Security with 332 employees, according to the federal data. Politico recently reported the Trump administration aims to cut in half the number of employees nationally at NOAA, where operations include the National Weather Service, hurricane centers, fisheries management and climate research. Union pushback The efforts by Trump have received pushback, including litigation that could affect actual large-scale employment changes under Tuesday's presidential order. The National Federation of Federal Employees has called Trump's recent employment reduction actions illegal and filed a lawsuit Wednesday with a coalition of labor unions in an effort to halt what the organization described as an attempt to gut the federal workforce in an unpatriotic move that will lead to chaos and poor service. 'Federal workers are your friends and neighbors who have dedicated their careers to serving our country, ' Randy Erwin, the organization's president, said in a statement. 'We cannot let the president disrupt their lives and dismantle critical services relied upon by the American people.' The American Federation of Government Employees, the nation's largest union representing federal workers, has called Trump's workforce reduction push reckless and unjustified. 'Firing huge numbers of federal employees won't decrease the need for government services, ' Everett Kelley, the union's president, said in a statement. 'It will just make those services harder or impossible to access for everyday Americans, veterans, and seniors who depend on them.'
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pacific commander urges faster arming of forces
SPC. 1ST CLASS JOHN BELLINO / U.S. NAVY Adm. Samuel J. Paparo, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, delivered a keynote address Thursday at the Hawaii Military Affairs Council's biannual State of the Indo-Pacific event at the 'Alohilani Resort in Waikiki. SPC. 1ST CLASS JOHN BELLINO / U.S. NAVY Adm. Samuel J. Paparo, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, delivered a keynote address Thursday at the Hawaii Military Affairs Council's biannual State of the Indo-Pacific event at the 'Alohilani Resort in Waikiki. The top commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific wants to see a major revamp in how forces are armed and equipped amid simmering tensions in the region. In a keynote address opening the Honolulu Defense Forum in Waikiki, Adm. Samuel Paparo bemoaned what many senior commanders see as a slow, burdensome federal bureaucracy that has made it harder for the military to field new weapons and technology. Paparo told an audience of attendees from 19 countries at the 'Alohilani Resort that there needs to be a concerted effort to remove 'bureaucratic obstacles within our system that impede progress—every unnecessary review, every duplicative process—that damage our readiness.' '(We need ) procurement at the speed of combat, not at the speed of committees, ' said Paparo. 'Technology alone is not going to win this fight. We've also got to reform defense bureaucracy with unprecedented urgency.' The conference brings together representatives from militaries and defense contractors around the globe to Hawaii, the nerve center of U.S. military operations in the Pacific. It takes place amid tensions with China, Russia and North Korea—which Paparo referred to as a 'triangle of troublemakers ' that he said threaten stability in the Pacific. Paparo advocated for expanding the use of artificial intelligence, 3D printing and other technology to allow the U.S. and its allies to gain an edge, telling the audience, 'We need the capability to produce parts from propellers to circuit boards on demand. It isn't future tech ; it's current capability … the technology exists. I've seen it. It's here in Hawaii and we have to scale it.' Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. The Department of Defense has been pouring money into Hawaii to build up its forces in the Pacific and to train a high-tech workforce in the island to support it. The Pentagon has considered the Pacific its top-priority theater of operations for some time, but ongoing wars in the Middle East and the Russian invasion of Ukraine have continually pulled attention from the Pacific. In November, Paparo told an audience at the Brookings Institution in Washington that American munitions used to shoot down missiles and drones from Iranian-backed militants in the Middle East and that munitions sent to Ukraine to help Ukrainian forces fight back against invading Russian forces threatened stocks of available weapons to potentially fight China in a Pacific conflict, saying, 'It's now eating into stocks, and to say otherwise would be dishonest.' The U.S. military has spent the past two decades fighting long, drawn-out counterterrorism campaigns while simultaneously conducting constant patrols across the world's oceans. It's come at steep financial and human costs, stretching the military and service members to their limits. In Waikiki, Paparo told the audience that 'our magazines run low, our maintenance backlogs grow longer each month for every critical joint force element—Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Space Force, Coast Guard—critical air, missile, maritime, space platforms age faster than we can replace them perfectly, and we operate on increasingly thin margins of error. Our opponents see these gaps, and they are moving aggressively to exploit them.' China has been stepping up military maneuvers around Taiwan, a self-ruled island democracy that Beijing regards as a rogue province. Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek set up a government-in-exile on the island after losing the Chinese Civil War in 1949 and put the island under martial law, but since the 1980s it has democratized and become a key trading partner for the U.S. Paparo said the Chinese military's 'aggressive maneuvers around Taiwan right now are not exercises, as they call them. They are rehearsals. They are rehearsals for the forced unification of Taiwan to the mainland.' Though the U.S. has not officially diplomatically recognized Taiwan since normalizing relations with the People's Republic of China in 1979, the Taiwan Relations Act passed the same year maintained de facto ties and requires the U.S. to provide Taiwan with weapons 'of a defensive nature ' and 'resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people on Taiwan.' Chinese military forces have increasingly flexed their military muscles in the Pacific. They consider the South China Sea to be their exclusive sovereign territory against the objections of neighboring countries and have built bases on disputed land formations in the busy waterway. Paparo accused Beijing of claiming 'sovereign rights over international waters with breathtaking audacity and blatant disregard for international law.' 'They've harassed commercial vessels and intimidated regional nations, including treaty allies, attempting to exercise their legitimate rights, including poor fisher-folks, ' said Pa paro. 'These actions also threaten the free flow of commerce through vital sea lanes that carry over one-third of global maritime trade.' President Donald Trump's new, controversial Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has vowed to reform the Pentagon and revamp how the military works with defense contractors and look to loosen export controls on weapons—particularly to Pacific allies. 'We have to break down barriers to cooperation, align standards and create supply chains that can weather any crisis, ' said Paparo. 'We always talk about strengthening our alliances and partnerships, and as joined at the hip as we are, we can never take them for granted and we can never make them strong enough. These are the foundations of our strength. These are our strategic centers of gravity. They're not diplomatic niceties.' However, while U.S. military leaders have championed alliances, Trump has in his first weeks of office taken a confrontational stance toward several American allies. Trump has threatened high tariffs against America's northern neighbor Canada and said he would make it the '51st state, ' drawing rebukes from Canadians across the political spectrum and prompting boycotts and a growing backlash. Trump has also said that he intended to take Greenland, a Danish territory, and make it into an American territory, and has not ruled out taking it by force. Attendees from both Canada and Denmark were present at the conference. But even as dignitaries gathered for the conference in Waikiki, media in the Philippines reported that a joint patrol of Philippine, U.S. and Canadian ships and aircraft made their way through Philippine waters and reported encountering Chinese naval ships.
