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CNN Live Saturday

Surveillance Flights Part of U.S. Military Presence in Asia

Aired April 07, 2001 - 12:11   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: And as Mike Chinoy, our reporter, was telling us about the interests in this region and what's happened with this latest incident, let's go the Pentagon where the top brass of the Pentagon eager to get the 24 crewmembers back on U.S. soil, the sooner, the better.

CNN's Eileen O'Connor is at the Pentagon this afternoon for more with us. Certainly, strategic interests the United States feels with partners and just the region there, and that's why the surveillance continues.

EILEEN O'CONNOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, as you heard in Mike China's report, China is trying to spread its influence into the South China Sea, but this is a very important region for the United States, and you know, Donna, the United States has 48,000 servicemen and women stationed in Asia.

They have huge contingencies, of course, in the demilitarized zone in Korea. They also, of course, have a huge contingency on Japan. As you know, the Japanese are only allowed to have a self defense force and they, the Japanese, want the U.S. presence in the region, as do many other strategic allies of the United States, basically to counter that Chinese hegemony, the huge Chinese strength in the region.

KELLEY: Eileen, are you able to hear if the Pentagon is saying if there is, in fact -- some reports I've seen say that there is a China million build-up, and that's why there's increased U.S. surveillance. Is the Pentagon saying more about that at all?

O'CONNOR: They are not. Now, the Chinese have complained that these surveillance flights have become more frequent, and if there is, in fact, and there has been build-up of forces in China in this area. In fact, the Chinese have bought a couple of Russian-made destroyers, Sovremenny destroyers, that have a very advanced radar system on the ship.

So, it is likely that the United States wants to take advantage and basically watch these things, and watch this build-up, and they can take advantage of that -- of those ships being in international water. The EP-3, a surveillance flight that can basically suck up all communications of those Chinese warships, and therefore they can learn a lot from it.

KELLEY: Eileen O'Connor at the Pentagon, thank you.

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