Engagements continue despite Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s threat to scale back engagements with US forces to get closer to China and Russia
The Philippine defence chief and two other cabinet members yesterday toured a US aircraft carrier patrolling the disputed South China Sea on the invitation of the Navy, US embassy officials said. Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre visited the USS Carl Vinson along with three Philippine security officials, according to US embassy spokeswoman Molly Koscina. The visit demonstrates continued top-level engagements between Philippine officials and the US military despite Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s threat to scale back engagements with US forces to get closer to China and Russia. The US ambassador to Manila, Sung Kim, accompanied Philippine officials to the Carl Vinson, where they watched F18 fighter jets land and take off on catapult on the flight deck and met US navy commanders in charge of the 95,000-ton carrier as it sailed in the disputed waters, Koscina said. US Navy officials told a group of journalists who were flown to the Carl Vinson on Friday that the US warship deployment was aimed to ensure freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea, a key waterway for global commerce and security.
