European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 12, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Asia s. Needs an America s grow harder to synchronize outposts of Power principal . Bases in the Pacific South Korea United states forced Are part of a combined South korean american come formed under a bilateral treaty and United nations mandate. The army 2nd inf div base at ton Duchon and air Force tactical fighter units at Kunsan Osan Suwon and Taegu Are among the american installations. .1 Japan and Okinawa Japan provides support for the american forces in the Northern Pacific As part of a United states japanese maritime military agreement. The country is also a Hub for american reconnaissance and intelligence activities. Principal american bases include Yokosuka Home port for Navy ships of the seventh Fleet the Navy air station at Katsugi Marine installations at Iwakuni Japan and futenma Okinawa including a Marine division and air Wing and air Force tactical fighter wings at Misawa Japan and Kadena Okinawa. Philippines provides naval and air installations for american forces operating in the Western Pacific and Indian oceans. Subic Bay is a principal maintenance support and storage base for units of the 180-ship Pacific Fleet Cubi Point is a base for anti submarine operations. Three air Force tactical fighter wings and Early warning aircraft Are stationed at Clark a. A Subic Bay Navat air station Guam backup bases for Philippines and Japan. Base for strategic air come bomber Wing covering Southeast and Southwest Asia and Navy support and communications installations. Guam a amps Sharon Kilday by David e. Sanger new York times n the 41/a decades since world War ii ended aboard the battleship Missouri an h overwhelming american military presence in h the Pacific has been an accepted fact of the postwar order. The United states after All was the country that rebuilt and protected a demilitarized Japan contained communism at the 38th parallel and offset soviet Power. Now As the Warsaw pact unwinds and congressional enthusiasm for Pentagon budget cuts begins to spill Over into Asia the reasons for the presence no longer seem so obvious. The Paradox is that with the connections Between the United states and Northeast Asia More Complex than Ever especially in Trade and a technology the american stake in maintaining its influence and assuring stability May never have been greater. And More than once in recent times american Power has been called upon to bolster democracy in places where it is still precarious most notably in the Philippines. That set of interests a a mix of Trade politics and military strategy a kept defense Secretary Dick Cheney on a precipice during his two week tour of Asia last month. Everywhere he went the affable Cheney left troop cuts in his Wake. In the next three years the United states will be cutting Back about 10 percent maybe More of the 120,000 troops scattered from Manila to Seoul. But Cheney also found himself arguing that Asia is hardly Europe and that it is vital for the United states to remain the dominant military Power in the area. If containing soviet expansion was All we cared Quot rat we tempted to withdraw Quot he said. To it that is not what we intend to  if the United ates folded its tents Quot a vacuum would quickly Zelop he said. Quot there almost surely would be a Enes of destabilizing regional arms races an Rease in regional tensions and possibly  moreover he said with aging leaders and unpredictable governments in North Korea China and Burma and the Specter of new upheavals in Cambodia Quot it should be Clear that the United states could not Ever think of a withdrawal from  perhaps not but from both Washington and Tokyo it is Clear that the United states role in Asia is about to change and As in Europe it May happen faster than the Bush administration is prepared to handle. Cheney s easiest Stop was probably South Korea. With the government of Kim ii Sung the North a Leader As firmly in control As Ever no one needed reminders that the 43,000 american troops in South Korea Are a deterrent to any expansionist moves. Nonetheless american and korean experts admit that in the Reagan years As South Korea s own forces grew More powerful americans grew fatter and inefficient Cheney talked about bringing american troop Levels Down by 5,000 to 6,000, to where they were before the Reagan administrations build up. He also pressed South Korea to double its $300 million contribution to the Cost of keeping american troops there. Far More Complex for Cheney was the Philippines. Before he arrived Congress had Cut Back military and other Aid to Manila by $96 million from $360 million arousing such outrage that president Corazon c. Aquino refused to meet with him. The subtext of the visit was the future of Clark a and Subic Bay Nas where leases expire in september 1991. More than half of the philippine Senate opposes renewal while the others want to raise the Cost phenomenally. Aquino is caught in Between. She cannot appear to give in to the United states but she knows that american intervention saved her from being toppled in a coup attempt last december. At the same time Washington is showing interest in alternative Sites if the United states is thrown out. Quot they Are not Here to stay forever Quot Aquino told Asahi Shimun the japanese newspaper. In Japan forever is the time Frame both sides have in mind. At a time when Japan s annual defense spending equals that of Britain or West Germany the United states presence there which will drop about 10 percent from the current 50,000 troops reassures asian countries which remember the horror of a militarized Japan. It also reassures the japanese who were Happy to hear Cheney Tell them not to take seriously a recent congressional Resolution urging Japan to triple its defense spending. But the relationship is quickly taking a different tone. Until a year or two ago americans there said that the military Alliance came first and that Trade and technological Competition was a sideshow. Now As Cheney himself said Commerce is becoming the main event. Quot As Secretary of defense i Seldom speak about economic affairs Quot he said Quot but the growing friction Between our countries on Trade issues contributed to the Trade imbalances and May if unchecked spill Over into other  since Congress tried to Block the Transfer of aircraft technology for Japan s fax fighter last year out of fear of helping Japan s aerospace Industry the japanese have realized that they will not be treated like Britain or Germany. Increasingly there is pressure there for Japan to go its own Way and develop its own weapons. And More than Ever As Cheney noted the american military needs a flow of japanese technology even beyond the memory chips and other electronic components that the United states no longer manufactures itself. Over time americans in the Pacific think the military alignment in Asia will be somewhat As it was before the korean War a big american presence in Japan a Small one elsewhere. But that vision depends on managing a relationship with Japan that with a $49 billion Trade deficit and rising tempers on both sides May be slipping from control. Monday March 12, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 13