U.S. Coast Guard Has Gotten Increasingly Active In The Western Pacific

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Myrtle Hazard on its way to Guam last September. PHOTO: MACADAM KANE WEISSMAN/U.S. NAVY 

Wall Street Journal: U.S. Deploys Coast Guard Far From Home to Counter China 

The service has gotten increasingly active in the Western Pacific as Chinese fishing fleets expand into new waters 

Early last December, the crew of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Myrtle Hazard sailed through the night, anchored off the Pacific island nation of Palau and boarded a group of Chinese boats to help seize tens of thousands of dollars worth of sea cucumber that had allegedly been harvested illegally. 

The fast-response cutter, operating around 6,600 miles from the continental U.S. and roughly 750 miles from its home port in the U.S. territory of Guam, is part of the Coast Guard’s newest growth area: helping counter China’s growing naval power in the Pacific. 

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WNU Editor: The US Coast Guard is now holding joint drills with Japan .... Japan, US coast guards hold joint drill amid China's assertiveness (Jakarta Post/Kyodo News).