by Rory Medcalf
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22 June 2009 10:36AM
The US 7th Fleet has 60 to 70 ships operating in East Asia, yet just one of them seems to be making the news of late. The USS John S McCain was involved in a collision with a Chinese submarine in waters off the Philippines earlier this month, the latest in a disturbing series of encounters between the two navies. Thankfully, Washington and Beijing are this week scheduled to hold their first direct military dialogue since 2007.
Prominent in those discussions will be what to do about North Korea's nuclear and missile programs. And as speculation mounts about a particular North Korean cargo vessel, with Pyongyang threatening war if its shipping is interdicted, which trusty destroyer from the 7th Fleet finds itself dispatched to stalk the Kang Nam?
Fitting work for the ship that last year visited Sydney to mark the centenary of the voyage that foreshadowed a US-led order in the Pacific.
Photo by Flickr user toastforbrekkie, used under a Creative Commons license.
