China’s South China Sea Institute has released a report on US military power in the Asia-Pacific. It is the first time that the institute has comprehensively evaluated the US military presence in the region. 

The report covers the US military presence in the Asia-Pacific region in five aspects: expenditures, military activities, alliances, South China Sea interests, and military exchanges with China.

According to the report, the proposed US defense budget for fiscal year 2016 was more than 585 (585.3) billion US dollars, an increase of about 4 percent over the previous fiscal year.

The proposed budget request for 2017 is 583 billion US dollars, almost the same as that of this year.

By 2015, the US had 368,000 military personnel in the Asia-Pacific region.

That accounts for more than half of its total military forces overseas.

"The US has pursued a foreign policy pivot towards the Asia-Pacific since 2010. Their military activities in the region since then have drawn worldwide attention. So we believe such a report will help offer references for the international community to study the US military presence and future security situation in the region, especially in the South China Sea," said Wu Shicun, dean of Nat'l Inst. for South China Sea Studies.

US warships periodically approach territories in the South China Sea that China lays claims to.

There have been concerns about what direction US President-elect Donald Trump will take towards the region.

But when talking to the Australian prime minister earlier this month, Trump said the US military presence has been an absolutely essential foundation for regional peace and stability.

“Withdrawing from the Asia-Pacific region is not very likely for the US. That is not to its economic and political interests in the region. So I believe there won’t be dramatic changes to the regional security situation in the near future. But the frictions between China and the US in the South China Sea will continue. Whether the tension in the South China Sea will become more intense or not depends on what the US will do,” Wu said.

The report stresses that even though frictions and trials of strength between the two militaries in the South and East China Seas are on the rise, that does not disrupt their high level dialogue mechanism. And the two countries need to keep in mind the whole picture, recognize that their shared interests far outweigh their differences.