China is flexing its muscles in Asia Pacific eventually to gain military supremacy in the region, but the U.S. Pacific Fleet is steadily shrinking.

However, U.S. Navy officials guarantee that the declining numbers of military personnel are compensated by the use of more advanced ships and lengthened deployments in the area. These also come with postponed maintenance to keep the presence of fewer ships.

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According to Peter Jennings, an expert at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute think tank, it is important to maintain an impregnable military presence even during peacetime. The shrinking US military force in Asia Pacific is "emerging as a serious long-term problem," Jennings noted.

There are currently 182 US vessels, that include combat ships, aircraft carriers, auxiliary and logistics vessels, Cmdr. Clay Doss of U.S. Pacific Fleet said. Around 20 years ago, there were 192 fleets stationed in the area.

China's People's Liberation Army Navy, meanwhile, has deployed 300 surface ships, submarines, amphibious ships and patrol craft, based on Pentagon's Asia-Pacific Maritime Security Strategy report in August last year.

This comes amidst the rising tension in the Southeast Asian region since China became more insistent on its claims to disputed islands in South China Sea. 

China considers the U.S. military presence in Asia as an attempt to limit the country's powers. Beijing, meanwhile, claims that it is just reclaiming its rightful and historical role as the leading cultural and political power in the region.

China has been building roughly 3,000 acres of artificial islands in a part of South China Sea that also claimed by Vietnam and the Philippines, fueling tensions in the area. Several international protests launched did not deter China from pouring sands on the ocean floor and building facilities on the new islands and reefs.

Questions now arise as to whether the U.S. Pacific Fleet would be able to sufficiently address issues in case regional anxieties heighten. Admiral Scott Swift, nevertheless, is confident that he has adequate resources.

"I'm very comfortable with the resources I have," he said.

TagsUS pacific fleet, People's Liberation Army Navy, Chin Artificial Islands South China Sea