Bloomberg: Chinese Navy in South China Sea Draws U.S. Admiral's Praise
* `Completely professional' interactions, says Admiral Hitchcock
* U.S. aircraft carrier is currently sailing in South China Sea
Standing on a nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier the length of more than three football fields as it plows through one of the world’s most contested seas, Rear Admiral Marcus Hitchcock has only high praise for the navy of his biggest military rival: China.
Around 125 nautical miles from the Malaysian coast in the South China Sea, Hitchcock, the newly-minted commander of the carrier strike group led by the USS John C. Stennis, says his ships have been engaged on almost a “twenty four-seven basis” with a “completely professional” People’s Liberation Army Navy.
“We have had nothing but professional interactions,” he said on Monday on the flag deck of the John C. Stennis, over the near-constant roar of fighter jets taking off and landing. “The ocean is a very connected environment, and the sailors that are on it, the navies that are on it are very connected, no matter what their nations are going through diplomatically.”
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WNU Editor: Praise is one thing .... but maybe now is not the time to say it. Especially when this U.S. admiral wants a different tone .... 4-star admiral wants to confront China. White House says not so fast (Navy Times) .... an opinion that the U.S. Secretary of Defense is also in agreement with .... Pentagon chief postpones visit to China as tensions simmer in South China Sea (Washington Post).
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