Home » News » Politics
Ayotte: U.S. right to shift military focus
|
The United States military's focus is rightly being shifted to the Asia-Pacific region, U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte said Wednesday following a weeklong tour of four southeast Asian countries.
Ayotte, R-N.H., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said she was invited on the trip by U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., after President Barack Obama announced a shift in military strategy from concentrating on the Middle East to the Asia-Pacific region. The group of senators on the tour also included Sens. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.
“I do agree with what the administration is doing as far as the shift,” said Ayotte, who returned the United States on Monday. “I think it makes sense.”
The tour included stops to meet with top officials in Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand and Myanmar, which was long ruled by a brutal military junta but whose president has begun instituting reforms aimed at increasing human rights and promoting democracy.
Ayotte said she wanted to take the trip to learn more about Asia, especially how it relates to her role in military affairs.
“I'd never been to Asia before. It was a learning experience, absolutely,” Ayotte said.
Ayotte said the prime ministers and other top officials of Vietnam and the Philippines each expressed hope that the United States would continue to serve as a counterweight to “Chinese aggression in Asian waters.”
“I'm not saying we're going to get into a conflict with China,” she said. However, “one thing I took from the whole experience is that we need to have a strong naval presence in the Asian region.”
Thai officials expressed a desire to continue a strong allegiance with the U.S. that includes large-scale joint military exercises, she said.
But she said the most eye-opening part of the trip was in Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, where that country's leaders asked the senators to begin lifting strict economic sanctions the U.S. has imposed on the country in response to decades of oppression and human rights violations.
“We're being cautious about it. We're not going to advocate the lifting of sanctions until we see real reforms,” including the release of political prisoners and the execution of free and fair elections, she said. “They used to put people in prison just for having opposing views.
“They're going through a historic time, we hope,” she said.
Ayotte said she met perhaps the most famous prisoner of the country's last few decades, Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning leader of the pro-democracy movement who spent most of the last 20 years under house arrest. Suu Kyi was released in November 2010.
“Meeting her, that was inspiring to me,” Ayotte said. “She stood up for things we take for granted in this country.”
Ayotte, R-N.H., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said she was invited on the trip by U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., after President Barack Obama announced a shift in military strategy from concentrating on the Middle East to the Asia-Pacific region. The group of senators on the tour also included Sens. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.
“I do agree with what the administration is doing as far as the shift,” said Ayotte, who returned the United States on Monday. “I think it makes sense.”
The tour included stops to meet with top officials in Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand and Myanmar, which was long ruled by a brutal military junta but whose president has begun instituting reforms aimed at increasing human rights and promoting democracy.
Ayotte said she wanted to take the trip to learn more about Asia, especially how it relates to her role in military affairs.
“I'd never been to Asia before. It was a learning experience, absolutely,” Ayotte said.
Ayotte said the prime ministers and other top officials of Vietnam and the Philippines each expressed hope that the United States would continue to serve as a counterweight to “Chinese aggression in Asian waters.”
“I'm not saying we're going to get into a conflict with China,” she said. However, “one thing I took from the whole experience is that we need to have a strong naval presence in the Asian region.”
Thai officials expressed a desire to continue a strong allegiance with the U.S. that includes large-scale joint military exercises, she said.
But she said the most eye-opening part of the trip was in Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, where that country's leaders asked the senators to begin lifting strict economic sanctions the U.S. has imposed on the country in response to decades of oppression and human rights violations.
“We're being cautious about it. We're not going to advocate the lifting of sanctions until we see real reforms,” including the release of political prisoners and the execution of free and fair elections, she said. “They used to put people in prison just for having opposing views.
“They're going through a historic time, we hope,” she said.
Ayotte said she met perhaps the most famous prisoner of the country's last few decades, Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning leader of the pro-democracy movement who spent most of the last 20 years under house arrest. Suu Kyi was released in November 2010.
“Meeting her, that was inspiring to me,” Ayotte said. “She stood up for things we take for granted in this country.”