78-07-B3

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The Pacific

Transcript A few days ago I spoke of the concern I observed on my visits to Japan and Taiwan about the uncertainty of our commitment in the western Pacific. This has been compounded by the growth of Soviet naval strength in the area. Here are some of the facts that contribute to Asia's decreasing confidence in Uncle Sam. Secretary of Defense Harold Brown has said there won't be any more reductions in the Seventh Fleets' strength. But defense experts in Japan and some of our own Seventh Fleet officers are concerned about the cuts that have already been made in a fleet that has responsibility for the Pacific from the Kamchatka Peninsula to the Persian Gulf. Officers, who for obvious reasons can't be named, say that in a global war we would have to shift Pacific fleet units to support our undersized naval forces in the European Theatre. That would reduce our Pacific fleet to maintaining lines of communication to Hawaii and Alaska, plus some essential military traffic to the Western Pacific. But fleet spokesmen make it plain we wouldn't be able to take an offensive action in the Western Pacific and commercial air and sea traffic would be halted. This, of course, is of great concern to Japan and the Republic of China on Taiwan. It confirms the testimony last February of Admiral Holloway-- Chief of Naval Operations, before the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee that Soviet strength threatens our capability of mounting an action in support of our Asian allies such as the two I've mentioned plus South Korea, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand. We have defense alliances with all those nations. Our Ambassador in Japan, former Senator Mike Mansfield, told a press conference in Tokyo last March that he had reminded the President that 70 percent of the earth's surface was ocean and the Seventh Fleet had responsibility for patrolling 80 percent of all that water. He is firmly opposed to any further reduction in America's western Pacific forces. But the fleet right now is incapable of dealing with more than one regional crisis at a time. For example, trouble in the Indian Ocean and war in Korea would leave us with having to choose between one or the other. We can't handle both. Admiral Weisner, commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, has warned that continuation of the present trends will give the Soviet Union supremacy in the Pacific within a decade. And, he adds, it will even threaten the United State's ability to defense itself. Some Seventh fleet officers think the balance could tip within five years and they say the West coast is already less than impregnable. One of Japan's leading defense experts says that in 1976 the Soviet Union fired two experimental missiles which had a 5,000 mile range. This means Soviet submarines--without even leaving the sea of Okhotsk--might be able to hit some strategic targets in the United States. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening.		Details Batch Number 78-07-B3 Production Date 05/15/1978 Book/Page RihoH-116 Audio Youtube? No
		Added Notes Seventh Fleet (Wikipedia)