News Story: U.S. Coast Guard to send ships in South China Sea

USCG National Security Cutter BERTHOLF (Image: Wiki Commons)

U.S. Coast Guard was reportedly proposed sending U.S. Coast Guard ships to the South China Sea, a heavily contested region where China is taking a hard-line stance.

“When you look at the East and South China seas, look at China’s Coast Guard, it is really the first face of China,” Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Paul Zukunft told Voice of America.

With no coast guard vessels of its own in the region, the US is in an awkward position in the face of “civilian” Chinese vessels.

“I have proposed to the Department of Defense that if they were to leverage the U.S. Coast Guard, I would look at providing resources to provide the face of the United States behind a Coast Guard ship, should that be a consideration for our approach to the East and South China seas with the next administration,” he added.

Read the full story at Tankler