Report on U.S. Military Power 2012 (31)

II. Cementing Existing Partnerships and Develop New Partnerships

U.S. Rebalancing towards the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific relies not only on traditional allies but also on various partners. U.S. partners in theAsia-Pacific region include India, Indonesia, Singapore, New Zealand, Malaysia, Mongolia, Vietnam, Brunei, island states in the Pacific, and China. In 2012, what the U.S. did to cement existing partnerships and create new partnerships is as follows:

First, get India into the U.S.-Japan-India trilateral security cooperation mechanism. In 2012, the three countries conducted security consultations on April 23rdand October 29thon regional security situations, maritime security cooperation, combating piracy, shaping Asia-Pacific strategic framework, and so on.

Second, deploy U.S. forces in partner countries. In June, 2012, the U.S. and Singapore jointly announced deployment of the first U.S. littoral combat ship USS Freedom in Singapore for ten months starting from the spring of 2013. Up to four U.S. LCSs will be deployed in Singapore in the future.

Third, continue to strengthen military cooperation with Vietnam. At the beginning of June, 2012, then U.S. Secretary of Defense Panetta visited Vietnam. The two sides agreed to further implement the U.S.-Vietnam 2011 memorandum of defense cooperation. According to the memorandum, the two countries will enhance cooperation in establishing regular high-level dialogues, maritime security and disaster relief, military medical training, and so on.

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