The Navy’s top admiral will travel to China next week on a visit that was planned long before this week’s ruling that invalidated Beijing’s claims over much of the South China Sea.
The U.S. has taken a low-key approach since the ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in order, say U.S. officials, to allow China time to consider its response without provocative acts or rhetoric.
After the verdict was announced Tuesday, China immediately denounced it as illegitimate and says it would not abide by it.
The U.S. Navy says the goal of Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson’s three-day visit is “to improve mutual understanding and encourage professional interaction between the two navies.”
Richardson will meet with People’s Liberation Army Navy commander Adm. Wu Shengli, who he has spoken to before by video conference but never met in person.
“These are important times for our two navies and for maritime forces throughout the region,” Richardson said in statement released prior to his July 17 departure. “As we seek to learn from each other, there is no substitute for these types of face-to-face meetings.”
Items on the meeting agenda include the South China Sea; the ongoing Rim of the Pacific exercise; and future opportunities for the two navies to operate together.
Richardson is to meet senior Chinese defense officials at the Navy headquarters in Beijing, and then travel to Qingdao, home of the Chinese North Sea Fleet.
There, he will visit the Chinese Navy’s submarine academy and tour the aircraft carrier Liaoning before returning to Washington.
The trip is Richardson’s first visit to China.
