US naval presence in Pacific aims to promote freedom of navigation

From Philippine News Agency (Feb 14): US naval presence in Pacific aims to promote freedom of navigation

The vast US naval presence in the Pacific Ocean only seeks to ensure that freedom of navigation remains unhampered in this large expanse of water, US Navy Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Jonathan Greenert, said Thursday.

"Our presence here is not as much about balancing power as much as ensuring or trying to assure our partners and our allies that were all in this together and ensure that we have freedom of navigation," he added.

Greenert said that this principle is simple economics as 90 percent of the world's trade are delivered across the various oceans.

"It does not matter what currency or measure but you get my point, in value is over the ocean so its gonna be free and have movement," he emphasized.

Greenert added that this ability of the US Navy to sail in vast tracks of the Pacific means that it is readily available to help its allies in the region.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=615972