CHINA: The USS George Washington, sets to make a port visit in Hong Kong as its officers continue to upkeep President Barack Obama's promise to "pivot" back to Asia

Record ID: 191228

  • Title: CHINA: The USS George Washington, sets to make a port visit in Hong Kong as its officers continue to upkeep President Barack Obama's promise to "pivot" back to Asia
  • Date: 7th November 2013
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF NAVY OFFICERS WORKING OUT TO MUSIC IN FRONT OF JETS
  • Embargoed: 22nd November 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: At Sea, China
  • City:
  • Country: China
  • Topics: International Relations,Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVA4VAYM6I8W39LT1VCBIVFOREWQ
  • Story Text: While cuts in Pentagon budgets and political gridlock in Washington have cast doubt on the sustainability of a U.S. "pivot" back to Asia, its military realities are all too clear from the flight deck of the USS George Washington aircraft carrier, which is set to make a port call in Hong Kong on Friday (November 8).
    F-18 Super Hornet jet fighters roar from its decks with chest-thumping velocity less than 300 km (185 miles) from the Chinese coast - a symbol of U.S. naval dominance in Asia that Chinese analysts fear could contain Beijing's rising power for decades.
    Yet just 30 km (19 miles) away is a lone Chinese naval frigate, well within the protective screen of U.S. ships and aircraft that protect the carrier across a vast swathe of the disputed South China Sea.
    The officers of the Washington are hosting People's Liberation Army officers on-board as part of efforts to engage a Chinese military wary of being contained by U.S. forces across Asia. The frigate has not been invited.
    The Washington strike group commander, Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery, said routine communication with Chinese naval ships was "professional" and that the U.S. navy was determined to aid the long-troubled relationship with "transparency and openness".

    "It's a... there's an opportunity there for increased engagement, and we'd like to see more of it. We think increased transparency in operations remove the opportunity for misunderstandings and miscalculations during routine operations underway," Montgomery said on Thursday (November 7).
    The Washington strike group - that often includes destroyers, cruisers and a fast-attack submarine backed by up to 90 aircraft - protects the only one of 10 carriers deployed permanently outside the continental United States.
    Based in Yokosuka, Japan, the Washington is the most visible sign of an increased U.S. naval presence across Asia that has been steadily growing for the last five years - a key element in the controversial U.S. "pivot".
    Despite budget cuts and U.S. President Barack Obama's absence from two recent Asian summits, Montgomery said the navy is still committed to upkeeping the "pivot".

    "I can speak specifically about the United States Navy. There's certainly been an increased emphasis on our operational availability and our commitment to exercises and engagement throughout the full western Pacific region. By that I mean from the Korean theatre down to the South China Sea into the East China Sea," Montgomery added.
    The presence of the strike group in the South China Sea appears geared to addressing the core of U.S. engagement in the region. The overlapping claims of China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia in the oil- and gas-rich sea is emerging as a regional flashpoint.
    The United States has said it is neutral in the dispute - centered on China's controversial historic claim of waters deep in the maritime heart of Southeast Asia - but is determined to preserve peace and ensure that sea-lanes vital for the world economy are not hindered.
    Even as it grapples with budget cuts, over the next few years the United States will significantly expand joint exercises, live-firing tests and anti-submarine drills in the region, in part to cope with advancing Chinese weaponry, according to the Stars and Stripes, the U.S. military newspaper.
    And on board the George Washington, officers and crew say combat readiness is being maintained through costly flight schedules that see 100 sorties routinely flown from the ship on most days.
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