U.S. and Hong Kong (2000)

Remarks by Vice Admiral James W. Metzger
Commander, U.S. Seventh Fleet
to the Foreign Correspondents Club, Hong Kong
December 8, 2000

(As prepared for delivery)

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, I'm very pleased to be back in Hong Kong. My last trip here was in 1986, when I was the executive officer of a submarine. This is my first chance to visit Hong Kong since I took command of the U.S. Seventh Fleet five months ago. It's an honor to have the opportunity to address you.

This type of dialogue with you is helpful in building a mutual understanding of both the goals of the U.S. Navy in the Western Pacific and your collective perceptions of those goals. It is my hope that by the time we conclude you will have a clearer picture of the U.S. Navy's mission in this part of the world. I also look forward to your questions, as they will help me to understand better your views of the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean regions.

I must tell you that I have a lot of respect for the journalism profession. The media play a critical role in American society, as they do elsewhere. Each of you is in a position to educate the public in a very powerful way. In a sense you ensure that fairness and openness prevail.

About 20 months ago, a journalist impacted me most profoundly. On that Sunday, veteran CBS News correspondent Andy Rooney's 60 Minutes commentary recharged my sense of purpose as a naval officer. I would like to share with you his words because I feel they explain -- in Mr. Rooney's own eloquently unique style -- why we do what we do in the U.S. military. This story gives sense to a national military strategy.

Andy Rooney said: "When I was in college, Adolf Hitler was trying to take over Europe. There was a political movement here called America First, led by a senator from Montana named Burton K. Wheeler. America First was telling everyone that Europe's problem was none of our business, and I agreed. Some philosopher I'd read in college had written that any peace is better than any war, and that seemed true to me. Why should I die for someone else's freedom? I was certain it was wrong for Americans to get involved in the war in faraway Europe. The draft board didn't care what I thought, and I was dragged out of college and into the army, kicking and screaming.

After following the tanks and infantry across France and into Germany as a reporter for the 'Stars and Stripes,' I got to a small prison camp in a town named Thekla (ph). About 250 Jewish prisoners in it had been forced as slave labor to make wings for German fighter planes.

When the guards heard we were coming, they poured gas on the roofs of two of the barracks, and with the prisoners still inside, set them on fire.

Two days later, I got to Buchenwald. By this time, I knew how wrong the idea of America First was.

I've never forgotten how dumb I was, thinking it was someone else's war. I smile and shake my head now when I hear a young senator say the slaughter of the Albanians in Kosovo is none of our business.

It's not really a smile, I guess. I don't know what it is. I'm saying to myself, 'I understand, Senator. I used to be as wrong as you are.'"

Rooney continued:

"The argument against our involvement in Yugoslavia is that we can't correct every evil in every part of the world. Of course we can't, but that doesn't make it wrong for us to stop the slaughter in Kosovo. A doctor doesn't turn you down as a patient because he can't cure the whole world. We have the weapons, we have the money, and we have the moral authority. We even have some help from other countries this time.

There's nothing in it for us. No big oil company is going to make money, no bankers. All we'll get out of it is the good feeling of knowing we're helping a lot of poor folks who don't have the power to help themselves.

It didn't seem as if I'd ever say it about him a few months ago, but I trust President Clinton in this matter. I trust my country. I'm proud."

Ladies and gentlemen, that says it all. I would imagine that Mr. Rooney influenced public opinion that Sunday evening. I can tell you -- without question -- he influenced me. I knew without a doubt as I listened to him speak that evening that Andy Rooney was right on the mark. And so, it is clear to me that it is imperative for the nations of the Pacific Rim, including the United States, to work together toward the common good of the people of this region, just as Andy Rooney talked about a commitment in Europe.

As we speak, more than 15,000 U.S. Sailors and Marines are operating in the Western Pacific, doing what is right, just, and necessary. They're in ships, they're in aircraft, and they're on shore; and they're operating both independently and with the forces of other Pacific Rim countries. They're promoting peace and progress, providing humanitarian assistance, building upon navy-to-navy relationships and providing an enabling presence. It is that presence and the regional cooperation that prevents Mr. Rooney from having to repeat his commentary in the future.

As Admiral Blair, Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, said during his visit to Australia last month, genuine security -- and that is what we all wish for the region -- will come only when nations share dependable expectations of change and act in concert to address common challenges. He believes, as we all do, that regional security must be a product of the steady progress as we sail into the information age. In such a technological world, security is a natural result of the loosening of state controls over data and opinions. This process begins in the financial and economic sectors, as well as through diplomacy and cooperation in non-military areas such as law enforcement and environmental protection initiatives.

But while these long-term forces which favor cooperation are gathering strength, there are specific steps that can be taken to build attitudes and habits of regional cooperation -- and to confine and manage points of contention in the region. Well-trained and experienced naval forces operating in the Western Pacific can promote such a purpose. These forces have a very positive role to play in the development and maintenance of regional cooperation.

As you know, the U.S. Navy has operated here for a century-and-a-half and has built relationships with our regional partners and trust with the leadership of many diverse populations. Naval forces are ideal in this role because they can operate together comfortably at sea and in international waters. Navy-to-navy relationships build confidence. Working together in this way can often be a first step in building or furthering trusting relationships between nations.

A significant example of this type of cooperation is the recently completed Western Pacific submarine rescue exercise Pacific Reach 2000. In October, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, the Republic of Korea Navy, the Republic of Singapore Navy and the U.S. Navy worked together off the coast of Singapore to recover crewmembers from submarines simulated to be disabled. Representatives from Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Indonesia, Russia and the United Kingdom observed the exercise. Singapore hosted Pacific Reach, and just as significant as the exercise proved in sharing of technologies, techniques and experience, it also fostered interoperability and promoted a commitment to progress and peace through regional cooperation by all the nations involved.

Exercises like the highly successful CARAT series this year -- CARAT stands for Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training -- included many nations in Southeast Asia. (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei, and the Republic of the Philippines.) Though CARAT is actually a series of individual bilateral exercises, it remains an important way of enhancing regional cooperation and building relationships through professional exchanges between the US Navy and our counterparts.

Other very positive signs of cooperation are emerging. Exchanges and regional gatherings such as the Western Pacific Naval Symposium and the meeting last month of 13 nations in Kuala Lumpur to discuss combating piracy all promote dialogue, peaceful development and most importantly recognize shared interests.

Certainly, the approach taken in the ongoing assistance to the people of East Timor is a superb example of regional cooperation. The use of naval forces there provided a greater degree of flexibility in the nature of involvement not only for the U.S. but all the countries represented in that effort. We have a Seventh Fleet ship visit there regularly to assist with a rebuilding effort in the Dili area.

The value of cooperation between countries is also being highlighted here in Hong Kong this week with the Hong Kong Search and Rescue Exercise. Although the Seventh Fleet itself is not involved, there are about 250 other U.S. military and Coast Guard members participating and observers from seven nations on hand for this valuable exercise whose goal is to improve international cooperation to save lives.

And while our U. S. naval forces continue to strive to serve as an "honest broker" in enhancing regional cooperation and friendships throughout the region, we will also continue to serve as an enabling presence, promoting peace, freedom of the seas and free trade.

Asia is, and will continue to be, a vitally important region to the United States. Over 50% of the world's economy derives from Asia and more than half the people on our planet live here. East Asia is home to four of the seven largest militaries in the world. (China, Russia, North and South Korea.) Half a million U.S. citizens live, work and study in the region. About one-third of the United States' two-way trade is with Asia,, accounting for millions of American jobs and hundreds of billions of investment and trade dollars.

And the region is growing rapidly. Despite the recent economic events in Asia, most economists recognize the long-term trend will continue to be in an upward direction.

But there is another reason why Asia is important to the United States and the Seventh Fleet -- a reason that transcends economics and jobs and touches the very core of who we Americans are. Asia matters to us because we have a shared emotional stake in its future and in human dignity. Three times in this last century, America has fought wars here, and in the process has lost 200-thousand of its sons and daughters -- lives added to the millions of Asians lost in those wars.

Furthermore, there are over 9 million Americans of Asian descent living in the United States today -- citizens who contribute to our nation's desire to seek the best for Asia and its people.

The 19 permanently forward-deployed ships of the U.S. Seventh Fleet are the centerpieces of our commitment to the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean. They are 17 steaming-days closer to locations in Asia than their counterparts based in the continental United States. But, in addition to these ships, we have rotationally-deployed ships from our bases in San Diego, Seattle and Hawaii that are present in the Seventh Fleet. This morning, for instance, we have more than 50 ships of all types in the Seventh Fleet.

Eighteen of our 19 permanently forward-deployed ships operate from facilities in Japan. But other cooperative relationships for the Seventh Fleet exist in the region as well. Singapore, for instance, is home to our Logistics Force commander and is a vital port for us in conducting maintenance and resupply for our ships. We are especially looking forward to the opportunity for U. S. aircraft carriers that may be operating in the region to be able to berth alongside the brand new pier at Changi.

Of course, the Philippine Senate last year ratified its Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States. Since then, we have conducted several ship visits to the Philippines, and we have resumed our major exercises with the Filipino forces as well, including Balikatan and a CARAT phase.

And U.S. Navy port calls to Hong Kong have also long been an important part of American cooperation in the region, both as a British territory and also as a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. In addition to providing welcome rest and recreation for our crews, U.S. Navy ship visits also serve as a visible demonstration of Hong Kong's openness and distinct status as an international city.

It is gratifying to note that these forms of regional cooperation as experienced by the Seventh Fleet are ever-increasingly being mirrored between other countries in the region as well. At conferences, in exercises, and during at-sea operations, regional naval forces are working together and helping to increase the level of understanding and team work that will cement the foundation for future regional security.

I believe these opportunities and trends support the continuation of a strong U.S. Navy presence in the Western Pacific as well, not simply as a deterrent force against military invasion and intimidation of treaty partners and others, although this function will continue to be important as long as unresolved conflicts remain. The U.S. Navy will also continue as an agent promoting cooperation and the shared tackling of common challenges between all the countries of the region.

As Andy Rooney said in his commentary -- we can't correct every evil in the world. But we -- the U.S. Navy -- can -- and will -- continue to play an enabling role while focusing on fostering enchanced cooperation throughout the region. Our involvement, our presence, and indeed our commitment remain constant.

Thank you for your gracious hospitality.

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