Trump nominates businessman with Asia background as Navy secretary

[WASHINGTON] US President Donald Trump on Wednesday nominated Philip Bilden, a former military intelligence officer and private equity executive with broad experience of Asia, particularly China, as the civilian head of the US Navy.

Mr Trump has vowed to build up the US Navy to 350 ships from the current 290, a move aides say is aimed at countering China's rapid rise as a military power in the Asia-Pacific.

The Trump administration on Monday raised the prospect of worsening tensions with China when it vowed to prevent Beijing from taking over territory in international waters in the South China Sea, something Chinese state media has warned would require Washington to "wage war".

Mr Bilden emerged recently as a favourite for the position of Navy secretary over the early front-runner, former US Representative Randy Forbes, a leading critic of China who chaired the House Armed Services Seapower Subcommittee.

Mr Bilden's nomination, which must be confirmed by the US Senate, follows that of another businessman, Vincent Viola, an Army veteran and founder of a high-speed trading firm, to be secretary of the Army.

Neither Mr Bilden or Mr Viola has experience in government.

A White House statement described Mr Bilden as "a highly successful business leader, former Military Intelligence officer, and Naval War College cybersecurity leader".

It said he would "bring strategic leadership, investment discipline, and Asia-Pacific regional and cyber expertise to the Department of the Navy."

James Carafano, at the Heritage Foundation think tank, said Mr Bilden had "all the makings of a great secretary of the Navy".

"He loves the service, possesses a deep knowledge of the cyber challenges facing the force, and understands the threat posed by rising naval powers such as China."

USNI News, the news portal of the US Naval Institute, quoted a former Nato supreme commander, retired Admiral James Stavridis, as saying last week that Mr Bilden was "a man of extraordinary expertise on maritime and nautical affairs".

"He is an expert on Asia and understands, in particular, China very deeply." The administration statement said Mr Bilden served in the US Army Reserve as an intelligence officer from 1986 to 1996.

Mr Bilden recently retired as a co-founding member of HarbourVest, a global private-equity firm and established its Asian presence in Hong Kong, the statement said.

He is a director of the US Naval Academy Foundation and a trustee of the Naval War College Foundation, where he chairs the Center for Cyber Conflict Studies.

REUTERS