US fleet commander in South China Sea mission
Print Edition
THE new US commander of the Pacific Fleet joined a seven-hour surveillance flight over the South China Sea at the weekend on board one of America’s newest spy planes.
Admiral Scott Swift joined the surveillance mission on board a P-8A Poseidon plane on Saturday to witness the aircraft’s full range of capabilities, the US Pacific Fleet said yesterday.
Territorial disputes involving China, the Philippines and several others have flared on and off for years.
China has urged the United States to stay out of a purely Asian dispute, but Washington has said that ensuring “freedom of navigation” in disputed waters and the peaceful resolution of conflicts are in the US “national interest.”
The US Navy has acquired and plans to purchase more of the versatile P-8A Poseidon aircraft to replace its aging P-3 Orion fleet.
A picture posted by the Pacific Fleet on its website shows Swift looking on intently as US officers demonstrate the P-8A’s capabilities. In another, Swift, wearing headphones with a microphone, looks out the window at the blue sky over the South China Sea.
US Navy Captain Charlie Brown, a Pacific Fleet public affairs officer who flew with Swift on board the P-8A, said the admiral “was pleased with the capabilities of the Poseidon.”
Brown did not provide other details of the mission, such as whether the plane flew over areas where China has undertaken island-building Washington has asked Beijing to stop.
In May, a US Navy P-8A was shooed away by radio operators, who identified themselves as being from the Chinese Navy, when the surveillance aircraft flew over a disputed area where China had been undertaking island-building.
Swift took part in the surveillance mission after a visit to Manila, where he met top Philippine military officials.
He flew to South Korea over the weekend and will visit Japan before returning to Hawaii, where the US Pacific Fleet is headquartered. He assumed command of the fleet in May.
Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin welcomed Swift’s move, saying it showed America’s commitment to come to the aid of allies locked in territorial disputes with China.
“Militarily, we are nothing against China,” Gazmin said. “That’s why we have been asking our allies to assist us.”
In Manila on Friday, Swift assured US allies that American forces are well-equipped and ready to respond to any contingency in the South China Sea.
He said that the US would press ahead with operations to ensure freedom of navigation in disputed waters and elsewhere.
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