Deep Read: How the USA wants to dissuade Xi Jinping from a war in the Pacific
A meeting between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump in Washington is supposed to reduce tensions between the USA and China. Meanwhile, in Hawaii, the USA are preparing for the worst-case scenario. A visit to the scene.
O’ahu, Hawaii – Fregattenkapitän Arlene V. Crews urgently communicates to the crew of the USS Decatur, a 154-meter US destroyer, that they are ready for deployment. The ship is currently docked in Pearl Harbor Harbor, a small island in Hawaii, which is a ten-hour flight from Washington DC. Onboard the vessel are systems capable of launching torpedoes and anti-ship missile systems such as the Tomahawk.
The US Pacific Command (US Pacom), the largest of the seven regional commands of the US military, is headquartered on O’ahu. It is responsible for the entire Indo-Pacific region. Former US Secretary of Defense James Mattis once described the US Pacific Command's role as encompassing everything from Bollywood to Hollywood and from penguins to polar bears.
Admiral Samuel Paparo would command American forces in the event of a war with China from this location. Besides the USS Decatur, hundreds of other ships and thousands of fighter jets would be at his disposal in the event of war. Coordination would also be provided with the ships and aircraft of the US allies.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
