US warship makes presence felt in PH Sea

LUZON STRAIT, Philippine Sea – Days after the collision of Filipino and Chinese vessels in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal, a powerful United States warship sailed here, with an embassy official describing the visit as a testament to the “ironclad” alliance between Washington and Manila.

The Manila Bulletin joined a Philippine contingent aboard USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the United States Navy (USN), during her sail in the Philippine Sea on Wednesday, Oct. 25. She will arrive in Manila within this week for a port visit.

The Philippine contingent boarded a Grumman C-2 Greyhound cargo aircraft of the US military as it departed Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) around 1:30 p.m. The aircraft ferried the Philippine contingent to east of Luzon Strait in between Batanes, the northernmost province of the Philippines, and Taiwan, a self-governing island that is being claimed by China as part of its territory.

The flight took 90 minutes until it reached USS Ronald Reagan. The vessel was commissioned by the US Navy in 2003 and named after the 40^th US President. It is 333 meters long – equivalent to a 10-storey building from the water line. It is longer than the Statue of Liberty (93 meters), Big Ben (96 meters), Seattle Space Needle (184 meters), and Eiffel Tower (324 meters); and is as tall as the Tokyo Tower.

On her flight deck, more than 60 fixed wing and rotary aircraft are embarked onboard. These include the C-2 Greyhound, Sikorsky MH-60 R/S Seahawk multi-mission helicopter, Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft, Grumman E-2 Hawkeye tactical airborne early warning aircraft, and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet carrier-based fighter jet.

“The Reagan is here visiting the Philippines as part of a routine voyage. The visit of the Reagan is a symbol of the partnership and the alliance that we have with the Philippines. Visits by aircraft carrier are not very common but this is already the second visit by the Ronald Reagan in the year that I have been here in the Philippines,” US Embassy in the Philippines spokesperson Kanishka Gangopadhyay said.

“We are here as your allies and we are here to support the Philippines’ safety. We are here to support your exercise of your sovereign rights in your EEZ, and we are very happy to reiterate our ironclad alliance with the Philippines,” he added.

China frowns

However, the most recent presence of USS Ronald Reagan in the Philippine Sea was thumbed down by China.

According to a report from Chinese newspaper Global Times, the visit sends a “wrong signal” to the Philippines as it supposedly encouraged Manila to “escalate its provocations” in the South China Sea, referring to the collision of Filipino and Chinese vessels in Ayungin Shoal, West Philippine Sea (WPS) on Oct. 22. The report also even called the US government “a troublemaker in the region”.

In response, Gangopadhyay said the visit has been scheduled for several weeks already.

“These visits are part of our (PH-US) alliance. They happen all the time at regular intervals and other governments can read into it what they will, but we have an ironclad alliance with the Philippines and we are very glad that we could have these visits because it really shows the strength of our relationship,” Gangopadhyay responded.

“To anyone pointing to recent events as a reason for the PRC [People’s Republic of China] to be aggressive, all I want to say is that this is a part of a pattern of repeated aggression,” he added.

The embassy official applauded the Philippine government “for bringing transparency” on China’s illegal actions in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) through the resupply missions.

“I also want to express my support to the Philippine media for being transparent and open and showing exactly what is going on in the West Philippine Sea,” Gangopadhyay said.

Shadowed too?

A separate report also claimed that USS Ronald Reagan was seemingly shadowed by a Chinese warship, similar to what Beijing was doing with Filipino vessels in the WPS to assert its dominance in that part of the world.

Accordingly, both the USS Ronald Reagan and China’s Shandong aircraft carrier operated in the South China Sea on Oct. 21.

“It’s the long-standing policy for the United States to support freedom of navigation in international waters,” Gangopadhyay said. “The United States Navy and the United States government is committed to flying, sailing, steaming, and operating wherever international law allows.” — Martin Sadongdong

Credit belongs to: www.mb.com.ph