committee about the scarborough shoal. what are the opportunities we have? it seems we have challenges, but i also think there is a norm a strategic opportunity. could you and general dunford talk to those, particularly the idea of new basing arrangements, new training arrangements? i think there is a lot we could be doing, and i would like to hear both of your views. sec. carter: you are absolutely right. there.re opportunities they are presenting themselves because countries in the region recognize that their region has had peace and stability for 70 years, and that is what has given them all the opportunity to rise. miracles,ian beginning with japan, south korea, taiwan, southeast asia, today india, and yes, china, all of that has occurred in an atmosphere of peace and stability, which they know that we had played a pivotal part in. there is a greater demand for partnership with us. when we talk about basing, we are discussing with the philippines right now. you may know that their court passed an important willtone recently, which all i was to do more wi

so if china builds a runway on scarborough shoal reef, pacomm commander says beijing will have access across the south china sea. secretary carter, is china conducting or preparing to conduct reclamation at the scarborough shoals, which is only 120 miles from the philippines where our navy regularly operates? and would you say this behavior is consistent with u.s. objectives and the regional security environment? secretary carter: well, congressman, we're concerned about that prospect and is it consistent? no. it's not consistent. it's the kind of behavior that we will be react to in our own military posture and deployments and all the ream national partners will re-- regional partners will react. it will be self-defeating and self-isolating for china. i hope they don't do that but we're prepared for that eventuallyality should it occur. no, it's not a good thing for them to do that and they shouldn't. by the way, i say just to be fair about it, our policy is no one ought to be militaryizing these features. there are these dis-- militarizing these features. there are disputes over mar

i know that there's some concern on this committee about the scarborough shoal. but what are the opportunities that we have? they seem to me -- i think there's an enormous strategic opportunities. could you and general dunford talk to those? particularly, you know, the idea of new basing and training arrangements. i think there's a lot we could be doing. i'd like to hear both of you views on that. >> you're right and i'll start and then ask the chairman to chime in. there are opportunities, they are presenting themselves because countries in the region recognize that their region has had peace and stability for 70 years and that is what has given them the opportunity to rise. all the asian miracles, beginning with japan, south korea, taiwan, today india and yes china all of that has occurred in an atmosphere of peace and stability which they know we have played a pivotal part in. and so, there is a greater demand for partnership with us. whether you talk about basing. we are discussing with philippines right now, you may know that their court passed an important

so if china builds a runway on scarborough shoal reef, pacomm commander says beijing will have accesscross the south china sea. secretary carter, is china conducting or preparing to conduct reclamation at the scarborough shoals, which is only 120 miles from the philippines where our navy regularly operates? and would you say this behavior is consistent with u.s. objectives and the regional security environment? secretary carter: well, congressman, we're concerned about that prospect and is it consistent? no. it's not consistent. it's the kind of behavior that we will be react to in our own military posture and deployments and all the ream national partners will react to. it will be self-defeating and self-isolating for china. i hope they don't do that but we're prepared for that eventuallyality should it occur. no, it's not a good thing for them to do that and they shouldn't. by the way, i say just to be fair about it, our policy is no one ought to be militaryizing these features. over are these disputes maritime claims in the south china sea. our view is not to take sides on them. ou

so if china builds a runway on scarborough shoal reef, pacomm commander says beijing will have accessoss the south china sea. secretary carter, is china conducting or preparing to conduct reclamation at the scarborough shoals, which is only 120 miles from the philippines where our navy regularly operates? and would you say this behavior is consistent with u.s. objectives and the regional security environment? secretary carter: well, congressman, we're concerned about that prospect and is it consistent? no. it's not consistent. it's the kind of behavior that we will be react to in our own military posture and deployments and all the ream national partners will react to. it will be self-defeating and self-isolating for china. i hope they don't do that but we're prepared for that eventuallyality should it occur. no, it's not a good thing for them to do that and they shouldn't. by the way, i say just to be fair about it, our policy is no one ought to be militaryizing these features. there are these disputes over maritime claims in the south china sea. our view is not to take sides on them

a confrontation before it begins, an objective beijing has reached so far on mischief reef, scarborough shoal and a number of others. the three warfares play a crucial war in insuring china can press ahead with its claims by continuously altering the facts on the ground and supporting the enforcement of this new reality. over the past two years, china's land reclamation program in the south china sea, dredging the seabed and using the stand to build artificial land features and attempting to assert greater control over the disputed islands, has created over 2,000 acres of artificial land mass on chinese-occupied reefs. china has invested heavily in infrastructure including airstrips on four of the five reefs it controls. on fiery cross reef in the sprattlys, china built a 10,000-foot militarily-capable runway designed to enhance sovereignty claims. one might posit that this is where the three warfares begins to connect with hybrid warfare; namely, the fortification of defenses and the strengthening of assets and boundary control, providing the option of kinetic engagement if necessary. law fa

i know there's some concern on this committee about the scarborough shoal.what are the opportunities we have? they seem to me -- i think there's an enormous strategic opportunities. could you and general dunford talk to those? particularly the idea of nubasinew basing and training arrangements. there's a lot we could be doing. i'd like to hear both of you views on that. >> there are opportunities, they are presenting themselves because countries in the region recognize that their region has had peace and stability for 70 years. and that is what has given them the opportunity to rise. all the asian miracles, beginning, with japan, taiwan, today india and yes china all of that has occurred in an atmosphere of peace and stability which they know we have played a pivotal part in. and so there is a greater demand for partnership with us. when you talk about basing, we're discussing with philippines right now, you may know that their court passed an important milestone recently. which allows -- will allow us to do more with the philippines. we're doing more and ge

looking at the next challenges, i know there is concern on this committee about the scarborough shoalhe opportunities we have? it seems we have challenges, but i also think there is a norm a strategic opportunity. could you and general dunford talk to those, particularly the idea of new basing arrangements, new training arrangements? i think there is a lot we could be doing, and i would like to hear both of your views. sec. carter: you are absolutely right. there.re opportunities they are presenting themselves because countries in the region recognize that their region has had peace and stability for 70 years, and that is what has given them all the opportunity to rise. miracles,ian beginning with japan, south korea, taiwan, southeast asia, today india, and yes, china, all of that has occurred in an atmosphere of peace and stability, which they know that we had played a pivotal part in.