Forge partnerships, US urges

Manila, Philippines — As the nuclear-powered USS George Washington (CVN 73) arrived in Manila on Saturday, the United States underscored the need for all countries to work together and forge partnerships, saying “misunderstanding” is now the biggest threat in the region.

At the same time, amid recent developments at the South China Sea, an American commander emphasized the right of every country to access international waters as he said that prior to USS GW’s coming to Manila after they left Singapore where the warship also made a similar visit, they “operated up and down the South China Sea.”

Capt. David Lausman, USS GW’s commanding officer, however, emphasized they were operating peacefully “in international waters.”

Lausman also said that with US State Department Secretary Hillary Clinton’s remarks made last month that the US had a “national interest” in seeing the territorial disputes over the South China Sea resolved through a "collaborative diplomatic process by all claimants,"

“First of all, all international waters are of prime interest to our country and I would say they're an interest of your country too. We have a very rich culture, in dependence to a very stable maritime environment that we all live on,” said Lausman.

He added the United States “has had a long commitment to the Western Pacific” and it’s no secret that its warships, USS Midway, the Independence, the Kitty Hawk, and now the George Washington have been permanently forward deployed with all of their families in Yukosoka, Japan.

“As such this is a very close area for us, we spend about a 180 days a year at sea so it makes very good sense that we operate in the areas close to our home port, again the South China Sea area, up and down the Pacific,” he added.

Amid all these, Lausman said the biggest security challenge in the region now “is that we all need to work together, we learn from each other, just like when you meet a new neighbor in your neighborhood. The more you know each other, the more relaxed you are, the more you understand, and there's no misunderstanding.”

Lausman said that it is due to lack of communications and misunderstandings that tensions can build. And this misunderstanding, he said, is now the biggest threat in the region.

“We all want to work together. The fact that all our countries have partnerships, because our main goal is to keep the entire Pacific stable and free of terrorists, free from stress, and we can do that by understanding each other,” said Lausman.

“Again, the waters are great, the international waters, they belong to nobody and yet they belong to everybody,” he further stated.

The US warship’s visit comes amid escalating tensions over a territorial dispute in the South China Sea as China recently adopted a harder line on its claims to the area and with the United States getting into the debate.

China, Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia have their respective claims in South China Sea's more than 200 mostly-uninhabited small islands.

Last month, the USS Blue Ridge also made a port call to Manila. 30% Filipinos

Lausman told reporters who were given a tour of the warship, its visit also serves as a “homecoming” to its Filipino sailors, who comprise about 30 percent of the crewmembers.

“As you know from last year, about 30 percent of the crew have direct ties to the Philippines either through aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, great uncles, great grandmothers, etc. and this is really a homecoming of families and cultures, because they are waiting to come back to their homes as well,” Lausman said, noting that during their last port call in Manila in August, 2009, “there was a lot of unique family reunions” and there are some again this year.

When asked how he would rate the Filipinos sailors’ performance onboard, Lausman responded, “We are glad that we have Filipinos on the ship” as he pointed to a group of them on formation behind him during the press briefing.

Elena Aben, Manila Bulletin