U.S. Defense Chief Heads East, Talking Tough on China

Updated April 6, 2015 8:40 p.m. ET

TEMPE, Ariz.—The U.S. is deeply concerned about China’s behavior in the South China Sea and its cyber activities, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Monday as he headed for security meetings in the region.

In his first major remarks on China as defense secretary, Mr. Carter struck a tough pose. He said the U.S. would invest in weapons including a new long-range stealth bomber as well as other assets to secure the Asia-Pacific region.

The U.S. also will deploy advanced aircraft and ships to the region, part of a gradual increase in attention to Asia during President Barack Obama’s last two years in office.

“We and many other countries are deeply concerned about some of the activities China is undertaking,” Mr. Carter said, speaking at Arizona State University’s McCain Institute.

“Its opaque defense budget, its actions in cyberspace and its behavior in places like the South China Sea raise a number of serious questions.”

Zhu Haiquan, the Chinese Embassy spokesman in Washington, responded in a statement that dialogue between the Pentagon and Beijing would help “dissipate mistrust” between the two nations. Mr. Zhu said that China pursues a policy that is “defensive in nature, and plays [a] positive and constructive role in regional and global security affairs.”

The U.S. defense secretary’s comments set the tone for a trip to South Korea and Japan this week to work on revising joint defense guidelines. The trip comes ahead of a planned visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Washington this month.

The U.S. has reservations about China, but Mr. Carter said big powers could cooperate to advance stability in the region and dismissed the notion China will gain at the expense of the U.S.

As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have wound down, the military has sought to shift more of its forces and resources to the Asia-Pacific region, trying to reassure allies confronting China’s growing power and other regional security challenges.

However, the administration also has grappled with shrunken defense budgets and a surge of violence across the Middle East and North Africa.

That has slowed U.S. efforts to pivot its policies toward Asia.

The Pentagon has put efforts to further expand defense ties with China on hold until the countries can agree on rules for air-to-air encounters for their warplanes.

Mr. Obama traveled to China last fall, meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and announced a series of confidence-building measures. Mr. Carter said he would focus on these measures.

“The U.S. and China are not allies, but we don’t have to be adversaries,” he said. “Our relationship will be complex as we continue to both compete and cooperate.”

Speaking in a hall filled with students, uniformed service members and dignitaries, Mr. Carter said that assuring security and prosperity in the Asia Pacific area “will be your generation’s central strategic challenge.”

“Other countries rise and prosper. We’re gonna prosper also,” Mr. Carter said.

The U.S. and Japan are reviewing their defense guidelines for the first time since 1997 with the goal of giving Japan a larger role in maintaining peace in East Asia, where China’s military expansion and North Korea’s growing weapons program have stoked tension.

In South Korea, Mr. Carter and his counterpart will discuss efforts to address North Korea’s behavior.

Mr. Carter linked stability and security in the region to the economy and urged Congress to pass legislation granting Mr. Obama fast-track powers to seal a major 12-nation trade pact called the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP.

“Our military strength ultimately rests on the foundation of our vibrant, unmatched and growing economy,” Mr. Carter said.

Mr. Carter endorsed the agreement, which is stalled as Congress debates legislation granting Mr. Obama fast-track authority. Mr. Carter said the agreement is an important part of U.S. policy.

“In terms of our rebalance in the broadest sense, passing TPP is as important to me as another aircraft carrier,” Mr. Carter said.

Mr. Carter’s trip to Japan and South Korea is the first of two to Asia in the coming months, intended to signal the administration’s intent to devote more U.S. attention to the region.