Top U.S. Pacific Admiral: U.S. Pacific Dominance Has Weakened In The Shadow Of A More Aggressive China.

Admiral Samuel Locklear, the head of U.S. Pacific Command, listens during a news conference in Seoul, October 1, 2013. Credit: Reuters/Jacquelyn Martin/Pool

China Encroaching On U.S. Military Dominance In Pacific, Says Top Admiral -- Washington Times

The Obama administration’s ballyhooed military “pivot” to Asia is running into some frank talk from the top U.S. commander in the Pacific.

Three years after the Pentagon said it was de-emphasizing Europe in favor of the Asia Pacific region, Navy Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III said this week that U.S. dominance has weakened there in the shadow of a more aggressive China.

“Our historic dominance that most of us in this room have enjoyed is diminishing, no question,” Adm. Locklear, chief of U.S. Pacific Command, said Wednesday at a naval conference in Virginia.

While Adm. Locklear said it is obvious that Chinese military power is growing, he suggested it remains unclear whether China in the long term will seek to be a hard adversary to the U.S. — so Washington should be working overtime on steering Beijing toward a cooperative security posture.

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Update: PACOM Chief: Uncontested US Control Of Pacific Is Ending -- Defense News

WNU Editor: Even the Chinese are noticing this decline in "U.S. dominance".