Dangerous Encounters in the Western Pacific​

By Admiral James G. Foggo, U.S. Navy (Ret.)

It is important to remember that, in the last two weeks, the interactions between USS CHUNG HOON and a Chinese warship and an American P-8 Poseidon Marine Patrol Aircraft and a Chinese fighter jet took place in international waters and air space. The U.S. ship and aircraft were completely justified in navigating these international spaces otherwise known as “the global commons.”

It is ironic that the U.S. Navy destroyer in this incident is named USS Chung-Hoon (DDG-93). The ship is named after Rear Admiral Gordon Chung-Hoon, the first Asian American flag officer in the U.S. Navy. He received the Navy Cross and Silver Star for conspicuous gallantry and extraordinary heroism as commanding officer of USS Sigsbee (DD-502), in the Pacific, from May 1944 to October 1945.

Equally ironic is the fact that President Xi Jinping once championed an agreement between the United States Navy and the PLA Navy to avoid untoward incidents on the sea and in the air. The agreement, known as The Memorandum of Understanding Between the Department of Defense of the United States of America and the Ministry of National Defense of the People’s Republic of China Regarding the Rules of Behavior for Safety of Air and Maritime Encounters, came about as a result of the Sunnylands Summit between President Obama and President Xi in June 2013. During this upbeat encounter, the two leaders discussed the challenges of the day including the imbalance of trade, the preservation of intellectual property, nuclear non-proliferation, and rules of behavior in the maritime domain.

Figure 1. The author (pictured center-right) meeting with China PLA Navy representatives in 2013. Photo is from the author’s personal collection.

Accordingly, the National Security Council tasked the U.S. Navy to meet with PLA Navy leaders in order to lower the tension between the USN and PLAN in the South China Sea. In my position as N3/5B, supporting the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Plans, Policy, and Strategy, I was tapped to be CNO’s direct representative to these talks that went on for the better part of a year. I reported directly to Admiral Jonathan Greenert, USN. This involved reciprocal visits to and from Washington to Beijing along with members of the staff of the Office of the Secretary of Defense and Indo-Pacom. I found the entire experience both enlightening and challenging.

PLA Navy Rear Admiral Li Ji served as the principal interlocutor on the other side of the table from the U.S. delegation. Admiral Li Ji spoke English like an Oxford professor, and he could be charming and disarming. Yet he was known to his staff as the “Chief Barbarian Handler” in Beijing, and the Americans were the barbarians. After the Sunnylands Summit, much was expected of this working group, but the negotiations started off slowly over the choice of the word “rules” of behavior or “standards” of behavior in the title of the agreement. At first blush, I did not anticipate that we would ever get to an agreement. To break the logjam, RADM Li Ji invited me to breakfast, one on one. I accepted his invitation, and I have never forgotten the conversation. After pleasantries and a cup of tea, he asked me a pointed question, “Admiral, do you know why we are here?”

“Of course, I do,” I said.  “We’re here to negotiate the terms of behavior between our two navies in the maritime domain…”

“No!” he said, “We are here because if President Xi and President Obama determine that our two nations should go to war, that is their decision and not the decision for men in the bridge of a ship or in the cockpit of an aircraft!”

It was a rather blunt revelation, and I sat back in my chair and reflected on what he had just said. Then I replied, “I could not agree with you more Admiral Li,” and from then on, we made good progress in formulating a memorandum of agreement on the rules of behavior in the maritime domain. In the end, the agreement was not relegated to a signing ceremony attended by lower-level government officials or naval officers. In fact, as one of the only concrete things that bore fruit after the Sunnylands Summit, so National Security Advisor Susan Rice determined that the agreement would be signed by U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hegel and his Chinese counterpart, in advance of Presidents Obama’s trip to the ASEAN Summit in November 2014.

The agreement remains in effect today, and it endorses a Consultation Mechanism to Strengthen Military Maritime Safety (MMCA) which articulates “the need to promote common understandings regarding activities in accordance with international law, including the principle and regimes reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.” Likewise, the agreement recognized the members of the Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS), including China and the United States, for their contribution in the development and adoption of the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES) in order to maximize safety at sea. CUES is not unlike the Incidents at Sea Agreement negotiated between the U.S. and Soviet navies in 1972, which provides for a means of communication and deconfliction between U.S. and Russian warships during close encounters on the high seas.

Furthermore, both sides affirmed their commitment to the rules of behavior for safety of military vessels and military aircraft of the two sides when they encounter each other at sea or in the air. Both sides consider that this effort contributes directly to risk reduction and to strengthening regional peace and stability. Specifically, the agreement acknowledges that when military vessels of either side encounter each other at sea, they are to maintain a safe distance to avoid the risk of collision.

While the forensics of the two most recent interactions between the U.S. Navy P-8 and a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea last week and the most recent encounter between USS Chung-Hoon and her PLA Navy counterpart in the Straits of Taiwan continues to unfold, it would appear that China is culpable of unsafe and unprofessional conduct in both cases. If PLA forces had subscribed to the articles and principles of the Rules of Behavior for Safety in the Air and Maritime domains, neither of these incidents would have occurred. On the other hand, crossing in front of the American P-8 and “thumping” the cockpit crew followed by a reckless maneuver to cross the bow of USS Chung-Hoon with a CPA of 150 yards or less is indicative of a force that is being trained to ignore the words that Admiral Li Ji shared with me at that breakfast meeting ten years ago. The actions of personnel on the bridge of a ship or in the cockpit of an aircraft could indeed precipitate an untoward incident, loss of life, or even a war between the United States and China. Furthermore, the Chinese seem willing to speak to American officials about matters of economic importance, but the fact that Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu refused an offer to meet with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Shangri-La dialog in Singapore this week does not bode well for peace and stability in the region. It is time to sit down at the table and renew our commitment to the rules of behavior in the maritime domain — the sooner the better.

Retired U.S. Navy Adm. James G. Foggo is the dean for the Navy League’s Center for Maritime Strategy. He previously served as commander of Naval Forces Europe and of Naval Forces, Africa.