Commander Fagan said the US Coast Guard wants to support Vietnam and other countries in the region to enhance their capacity to enforce sovereignty at sea.
"Cooperation between the US Coast Guard and the Vietnam Coast Guard and other maritime agencies has been a highlight of bilateral relations in recent years. The US stands ready to work with Vietnam and other key partners in the region to promote a rules-based international maritime order," said Admiral Linda L. Fagan, Commandant of the US Coast Guard, in an interview with the press on May 30.
According to the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, Admiral Fagan is on a visit to Vietnam from May 29 to June 1.
Admiral Linda Fagan. Photo: US Coast Guard
Ms. Fagan said the US appreciates the participation and role of Vietnam's maritime law enforcement forces in many multilateral cooperation events such as the Southeast Asia Maritime Law Enforcement Initiative (SEAMLEI).
She said bilateral and multilateral cooperation with maritime law enforcement forces of Indo-Pacific countries "is very important in strengthening the rules-based order in the region's seas".
Referring to cooperation with maritime law enforcement forces of countries in the East Sea, Admiral Fagan said that the US is ready to support partners in building the necessary resources and capacity to maintain a presence in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), exchange experiences and increase information on how each country exercises its sovereignty.
“Many of the overarching challenges in the Indo-Pacific region are maritime-related and require cooperation on maritime governance, including illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing,” she said.
In addition to dealing with IUU activities, she said the US Coast Guard has a lot of experience dealing with acts that erode sovereignty, in which "some regional challenges have had a paramilitary element".
The Hamilton-class large patrol boat was transferred by the US Coast Guard to the Vietnam Coast Guard, renamed CSB 8021, and left Seattle port in June 2021. Photo: US Embassy in Vietnam
At the ASEAN-US Special Summit in May 2022, the US announced a $60 million proposal to strengthen maritime cooperation, supporting new maritime initiatives, including the deployment of Coast Guard vessels to combat maritime crime, to promote a “free and open Indo-Pacific”. The assistance also includes an initiative to combat illegal fishing and forced labor.
The US affirmed its support for ASEAN's stance on the East Sea, welcomed ASEAN's promotion of cooperation, dialogue and trust building in the region, and efforts to build an effective and efficient Code of Conduct (COC) in accordance with international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
At the conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh welcomed the US’s initiatives to enhance maritime cooperation with the region. He stressed that all countries, including ASEAN countries and the US, share the importance and interests of ensuring peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea, the world’s vital trade route.
Admiral Linda L. Fagan was nominated by President Joe Biden to be Commandant of the US Coast Guard in April 2022 and confirmed by the Senate a month later. She assumed office in June 2022, becoming the first woman to lead a branch of the US military.
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