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China will intensify its vigilance, but not lash back, after theUnited States announced it will shift most of its warships to theAsia-Pacific region by 2020, media reported on Sunday. People's Liberation Army (PLA) Lieutenant General Ren Haiquan'scomments were Beijing's first public reaction to the statement onSaturday by US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta that the Pentagonwill reposition its naval fleet so 60 percent of its battleshipsare in the Asia-Pacific by the end of the decade, up from about 50percent now. "First, we should not treat this as a disaster," saidRen, who is leading the Chinese delegation to the regional securitydialogue in Singapore where Panetta also announced the shift. "I believe that this is the United States' response to its ownnational interests, its fiscal difficulties and global securitydevelopments," Ren said in comments reported by Hong Kong'sPhoenix Television. Beijing has long been wary of US intentions, with more hawkishvoices in the PLA saying that Washington is bent on encirclingChina and frustrating its rise. Ren, who is a vice president of the Chinese Academy of MilitarySciences, which helps shape PLA strategy, said Beijing would not becomplacent about US moves. "The second sentence (of my response) is that we should nottreat this indifferently," Ren said, according to Phoenix. "We must see that we're facing extremely complex and one couldsometimes even say quite serious developments, and we must raiseour awareness of peril, and prepare to cope with all kinds ofcomplex and serious circumstances." China's fast-modernizing navy has stirred worries among neighbours,including in southeast Asia, where several countries are in disputewith Beijing over rival territorial claims in the South China Sea. Under the plans Panetta announced, the US Navy would maintain sixaircraft carriers assigned to the Pacific. Six of its 11 carriersare now assigned to the Pacific, but that will fall to five whenthe USS Enterprise retires this year. The number will return to six when the new carrier USS Gerald R.Ford is completed in 2015. The US Navy had a fleet of 282 ships as of March. That is expectedto slip to about 276 over the next two years before beginning torise toward the goal of a 300-ship fleet, according to a 30-yearNavy projection released in March. — Reuters. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Clothes Rack Dryer , Kitchen Stoves Ovens, and more. For more , please visit Kitchen Gas Burner today!
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