It's business as usual aboard U.S. carrier monitoring Taiwan situation

March 16, 1996
Web posted at: 11:45 a.m. EST (1645 GMT)

From Correspondent May Lee

ABOARD USS INDEPENDENCE (CNN) -- There are no signs of trouble and no indications of tensions off the east coast of Taiwan. It is a calm situation that the USS Independence hopes to maintain. The giant aircraft carrier and its warship group have been monitoring the waters near Taiwan since March 9. Although China views military moves by the United States as interference in its national affairs, the U.S. Navy has a very different interpretation.

"What is our purpose here? It is not to bully or intimidate," said Rear Adm. James Ellis, commander of the Battle Force Seventh Fleet "We're here to monitor the on-going exercises. The Chinese themselves have said that's a normal function. That's not intimidating at all. We are in international waters ... We're hundreds of miles from Taiwan -- nowhere near the areas of live fire exercises." (230K AIFF sound or 230K WAV sound)

Instead, the crew members aboard the Independence are conducting their own exercises.

About 80 sorties are flown every day. The drills are routine, nothing out of the ordinary. Three times a week, emergency exercises are carried out on board regardless of the situation.

"We fly every day, train every day just like we do it we're here or anyplace else in the world. It doesn't matter," said one sailor.

Even in the tactical flag command center, where entire regions are mapped out and strategies are formulated accordingly, it's business as usual.

As routine as everything seems, however, there is a tinge of disappointment on board.

After being out to sea for 30 days the USS Independence was headed back to its home port in Japan, but the tensions in the Taiwan Strait forced an abrupt change in plans.

And with China's plans to extend its military exercises those plans will have to stay on hold indefinitely.

Feedback Send us your comments. Selected responses are posted daily.

| CONTENTS | SEARCH | CNN HOME PAGE | MAIN WORLD NEWS PAGE |

---

Copyright © 1996 Cable News Network, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.