Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert will host his counterpart from the People’s Republic of China, Adm. Wu Shengli, for a visit to U.S. Navy and Marine Corps commands beginning with San Diego-based Pacific Fleet units this week.
Adm. Wu last visited the United States as a guest of previous CNO Adm. Mike Mullen in 2007. Adm. Wu’s visit coincides with the arrival Friday at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii of three ships from the People’s Liberation Army – Navy [PLA(N)], marking their first port visit to the U.S. since 2006.
In San Diego starting Sept. 9, Adm. Greenert and Adm. Wu will visit the headquarters of U.S. 3rd Fleet, the command that leads the Rim of the Pacific exercise (RIMPAC), the world’s largest international maritime exercise held every two years in and around Hawaii. Earlier this year the PLA(N) accepted an invitation to participate in RIMPAC 2014, which will include more than 20 nations. This will be the first time the PLA(N) has participated in RIMPAC. Greenert and Wu will also conduct inport visits to USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), and embark USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) at sea during the San Diego portion of the trip. They will also visit U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton before traveling to Washington, D.C.
As part of a planned series of military-to-military exchanges between the two nations, Adm. Cecil Haney, commander U.S. Pacific Fleet, visited China this past May in conjunction with a port visit by USS Shiloh (CG 67) at Zhanjiang, China. This counterpart visit by the leaders of the U.S. Navy and China’s Navy is intended to help establish clear paths of communication, encourage transparency and trust, mitigate risks, and focus multilateral cooperative efforts to address common regional and global security challenges.
[mappress] Press Release, September 09, 2013; Image: US Navy