Transcripts For CNNW Crossfire 20131127 : vimarsana.com

0 airspace and also to make sure that its territory integrity, its sovereignty are safeguarded. this is a normal arrangement. reporter: the u.s. military has reason to worry about an incident escalating. back in 2001, a u.s. navy aircraft collided with a chinese jet. that navy plane then crashlanded into china. the 24-man crew on kar board the navy plane was held by the chinese for 11 days before they were released. jim, good reason bad feelings and history, good reason to potentially worry about this. thanks very much to barbara starr. we re going to bring in the former u.s. ambassador, also cnn military analyst spider marsh, former major general, also intel officer in asia. ambassador husbandman, if i can, how quickly could this lead to miscalculation? a chance for misinterpretation of a move could lead to something bigger? jim, this is a difficult, tense and complicated situation. that s the biggest challenge of all. not that there is a war of words, but several countries in the region. the possibility of a miscalculation is very real. the problem is you escalate the tension and there s no real plan to de-escalate. we saw that before, as was pointed out in april of 2001, with the downing of the spy plane. it was very difficult to de-escalate. we just don t have the kinds of plans that would allow us to de-escalate. with korea japan, taiwan, russia, the united states, all snooping around in the area, it becomes a crowded flight zone and maritime zone. therefore, the possibility for miscalculation is very real. general marks, did the u.s. do the right thing? they absolutely did. if the united states had not challenged this unilateral declaration of a change, a new standard would have been said and china would have declared a form of success. i think they challenged it very veld the b-52 was not armed. it s not going to penetrate into chinese beyond that it s not going to penetrate into the mainland, but i think it s very, very important. we have always had a large military presence in the region, so the escalation certainly the possibility of an escalation is always present, but we ve this dance and we ve handled it very well and ambassador, you ve been a part of that very intimately. we ve been able to do this dance pretty effectively. this was an act on the part of the chinese clearly to be provocative. what does the u.s. pivot to asia mean? i would argue that we have never un-pivoted. it s always had a very clear focus for the united states to be there, to assert ourselves, and to really galvanize and put markers down. what was china trying to accomplish here? you ve been through tough moments with the chinese. well, they re tremendous i to de-legitimatize the claim to the islands. same with the scarborough reef with the philippines, same thing in the south chinese with vietnam and other claimants. they re trying to drive a wedge, quite frankly, between the u.s. and japan, with respect to their security alliance. so we have to be particularly vigilant in terms of close i noticed the sound bites out of the tokyo were carefully coordinated with washington. the general is absolutely right. that rapid response to the air defense identification zone established by china, through a freedom of navigation maneuver, was absolutely the right thing to do. if we had allowed any blue sky to prevail there, it could have been real trouble in terms of the chinese claiming that area theirs. he reminded people that the treaty which covers these islands. if in fact there was a confrontation, the u.s. would be obligated to take part. that s a big deal. if you look at what the chinese did, they cut a piece out of the adiz. so that clearly was confrontational. the backdrop is we re in an austere budget period, the united states military is trying to figure out what it will look like, specifically in that part of the world. what will the marines do in okinawa? what s our presence in japan? clearly this made perfect sense for the chinese to focus on the islands. and then the back drop is also an interesting one. you re seeing the rise of new leaders in northeast asia. in japan, you have shinno abe, while his second tour as prime minister, you have you have a new president in south korea, a new leaders in north korea, so the whole region, sensitive as it is because of the geographic and sensitive because of history and how it s played out will be an interesting play to keep your oy on. the united states is going to have to establish its presence in the region, toss forthright in terms of our support, to speaking clearly, and make sure we re consistent in all that we do. vice president biden, is it good timing or bad, it turns out he ll be in china next week. i remember on a previous visit he actually brought photographs from u.s. planes, showing how close chinese fighters got, within ten feet of the wing, to show the danger. what do you think his message will be? hopefully a voice of calm, but also resolution interest. we should view this as an opportunity for the united states to make sure it s crystal clear, we are here to stay. what would you say if you were if that room? it s always going to be an attempt to shore up and talk about those areas we have in common, us talking about the about the in the region. and how our relationship with our allies will be very, very important. in light of what s happened most recently, that kind of discussion will be extremely important. they will listen for the clarity of the words that are spoken. this is not the time to equivocate. fantastic to have you both on. two experts on asia on a very important and tense time in those relations. as the nfl gears up, are fans concerned about a major controversy hanging over pro football? and they made it through cnn s great race all the way home. now they re live in the situation room to talk about our holiday travels in a train, a plane and an automobile. stick with innovation. stick with power. stick with technology. get the flexcare platinum. new from philips sonicare.