On January 8, the Director of the Joint Staff of the U.S. Department of Defense, Lt. Gen. David Goldfein, issued a memorandum, officially renaming the "Air Sea Battle" (ASB) operational concept to “Joint Concept for Access and Maneuver in the Global Commons" (JAM-GC). China.com published an article to interpret the implications of the name change. The article is also available on Xinhuanet.com. The article commented that the renaming of the "Air Sea Battle" concept is still new wine in an old bottle and that it has no benefit for the peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.
The article said, “The U.S. has its internal needs to accelerate the ‘Air Sea Battle.’ The first is out of its defense strategy. Despite facing severe challenges in other areas, the United States has never relaxed its focus on the Asia-Pacific region. The second is the need to maintain hegemony. The third is out of political considerations. In recent years, the Obama administration has received heavy criticism for its ‘weakness’ and ‘lack of strategy’ in foreign policy. ‘Air Sea Battle,’ as a prominent highlight of its ‘Asia-Pacific rebalancing’ strategy, can be an important gimmick to shift the critics’ focus. At the same time, it can also, once again, tie the Asia-Pacific allies to the American military wagon.”
“In the current situation, such a U.S. action is obviously not appropriate. First, funding is very tight due to the weak economy and the fact that military spending will be substantially reduced over the next decade. Second, the U.S. is losing its power to be able to attack on all fronts. Third, allies’ responses are mostly lukewarm. Fourth, the negative impact is unpopular. The ‘Air Sea Battle’ that is highly aggressive can easily lead to a regional arms race and undermine regional peace and stability.”
Source: China.com, January 28, 2015 http://mil.jschina.com.cn/system/2015/01/28/023516841.shtml http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2015-01/28/c_127431258.htm