The United States asked China to join efforts to maintain international maritime security when China’s navy chief Vice Adm. Wu Shengli paid a visit to Washington on April 4. According to Agence France Presse, the U.S. chief of naval operations, Adm. Michael Mullen, called on Wu to consider “China’s potential participation in global maritime partnership initiatives” during talks at the Pentagon.

Mullen was referring to the idea of a “1,000-ship Navy,” which was first proposed at an international sea power symposium in 2005. The concept is aimed at developing a transnational network of navies, the shipping industry and law enforcement agencies to respond to crises or emergencies at sea, such as a tsunami on the scale of that which occurred in Asia in 2004.

Wu expressed interest in the plan and “shared concerns in maritime security both regionally and globally,” according to Admiral Mullen’s spokesman.

This comes at a time when China is rapidly building up its naval power. At a forum in Washington held on April 3, Mullen admitted the Chinese were shifting from a “land-centric force to an air-centric and naval-centric force and clearly that force and capability has the potential to focus very much on the United States Navy.”

Senior U.S. officials have complained China is underreporting its military budget, expressing concern that it is expanding too quickly. Last month, China reported a 17.8 percent rise in military spending for this year, which will bring it to a total of $45 billion.

Last month, the U.S. Congressional Research Service released a report on China’s naval modernization, which contained the following shocking information: “By 2010, China’s submarine force will be nearly double the size of the U.S. submarine fleet. The entire Chinese naval fleet is projected to surpass the size of the U.S. fleet by 2015.” The American Shipbuilding Association reports that the Chinese are specifically reconfiguring their navy to rival America’s sea power.

Last week’s talks at the Pentagon amount to a U.S. acknowledgement of China’s growing naval power. To learn what the Chinese Navy buildup is leading to, read “The Coming Siege.”