The presence of the USS George Washington aircraft carrier in the South China Sea this week and its port call at Manila signals renewed American commitment to the Philippines, though observers warn that Beijing could view the move as a “containment” effort and ramp up its own naval activity in the disputed waters.
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Flight deck operations were opened to the media aboard the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered vessel, with commanding officer Captain Timothy Waits telling reporters his ship’s mission marked the United States’ focus on a free and open Indo-Pacific.
“We know the importance of this theatre or this region. It’s a vast region, many nations. Most of them will be on the coastline. The importance of the open and free sea lanes, just from a commercial aspect alone, is important to them. It’s important to us. And in that way, we share those values so that our being out here,” he said on Wednesday.
Currently docked off Manila Bay, the presence of the US vessel comes just days after China deployed two of its own aircraft carriers to the Western Pacific for military drills.
The exercises prompted senior leaders, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Japan’s Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, to raise serious concerns over the situation in the East and South China Seas.
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Beijing claims most of the South China Sea, rejecting rival claims from other countries, including the Philippines, and a 2016 international ruling that its assertion over the waterway has no legal basis.