The u.s has decided to deploy its coast
guard after accusing beijing of foul
play in the south china sea, in waters
beijing sees as belonging to china. Tensions between the two nations have
been growing in recent months.
The united states has said it would
deploy coast guard ships in the western
pacific for maritime security missions, citing illegal fishing and vessel
harassment from china.
On 30 may, maritime prepositioning ships
squadron 3, MP SRON 3, coastal riverine group 1, helicopter sea combat squadron 25 and
u.s coast guard sector guam refined some
of their operational skills during joint
service training near Guam april 14-18.
Integration amongst diverse u.s navy and
joint capabilities strengthened
readiness and deterrence against
regional aggression supporting a free
and open indo-pacific. These drills helped enhance proficiency
in ship handling and tactical fleet
integration in preparation for
contingency operations, said Capt. John Bubb Commodore of MP SRON 3.
the multi-group sail exercises consisted
of close quarter turns, evasion tactics
and formation steaming. participating units including MP SRON 3 USNS Bobo (T-AK-3008), USNS Montford Point, USNS Watkins (T-AKR-315) and USNS Red Cloud (T-AKR-313) also
practiced nighttime signal
communications and convoy operations.
This valuable training increases
interoperability among ships in the
squadron and prepares them to work with
other u.s navy assets and escorts, said
bub.
MSC maritime sealift command integration
with fleet units is necessary to
successfully execute a variety of
taskings. It's also critical to executing MP SRON 3's mission of enabling the force
from the sea by providing swift and
effective transportation of vital
equipment and supplies for designated
operations.
MP SRON 3 Oversees a number of ships that
provide a float-prepositioned u.s
military cargo to the u.s marine corps, the u.s army and the u.s air force
throughout the indo-pacific region.
meanwhile the philippines has
drastically stepped up its patrols in
the south china sea recently and came
into closer contact with the china coast
guard, according to ship tracking data.
The philippines protested china's
incessant deployment, prolonged presence
and illegal activities around thitu
island in the south china sea, the latest
manifestation of lingering tensions
between the nations.
"The southeast asian country is demanding
china withdraw maritime assets and
fishing vessels, the department of
foreign affairs said in a twitter post
on saturday. The island it refers to as pagasa is an
integral part of the philippines over
which it has sovereignty and
jurisdiction," the department said.
Tensions in the disputed waters have
escalated in the past month with manila
repeatedly protesting and demanding that
chinese vessels leave areas etc within
its jurisdiction. China has deployed more ships, despite
the philippines repeated calls.
The Philippines has also objected to
china's fishing moratorium in the south
china sea, saying the annual fishing ban
extends far beyond china's legitimate
entitlements under the united nations
convention on the law of the sea.
The South China Sea has been a regional
flashpoint in asia, involving territorial
disputes between some countries and
china. The Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam are
among the countries that lay claim to
parts of the waterway, but China sees
much of the area including the spratly
islands and scarborough shoal as part of
its territory.
