Virtual Press Briefing with Jennifer Conklin, U.S. Coast Guard Captain, on Operation Blue Pacific

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MODERATOR: Greetings from the U.S. Department of State's Asia Pacific Media Hub. It's my pleasure to welcome journalists to today's on-the-record briefing. Today, we're honored to be joined by Captain Jennifer Conklin of the U.S. Coast Guard.

With that, let's get started. Captain Conklin, I'll turn it over to you for your opening remarks.

CAPTAIN CONKLIN: Good morning and aloha, Tim. Thanks for this opportunity, and it was really nice to see a few of some names that I recognized on the invite list. So thank you.

So today we're going to talk about Operation Blue Pacific and some of the Coast Guard activities that are related to that operation. So I'd like to kind of just start out briefly and provide what is Operation Blue Pacific. I think a lot of people have heard about it. But really, it's the Coast Guard's overarching effort in the region to bring our unique capabilities and our maritime authorities together to promote safety, security, and resiliency across the Pacific Islands and Oceania.

I think the Coast Guard is a particularly relevant partner in Oceania. Obviously, with our maritime routes and our capabilities and our focus on maritime governance, we work with the Pacific Island partners very well, whether it's in law enforcement space, if it's in search and rescue, port security. We know all of our ports, almost all of our commodities coming through our seaports. So having safe, secure, dependable seaports is vital.

So that's just a couple of the ways we work with our Pacific Island partners. We also do joint surface and air patrols. We develop contingency plans for pollution response. And then we also work to ensure that we can recover quickly, whether it's from heavy weather situations like a cyclone or if there was a mass rescue event - we want to be prepared for those types of events as well.

Information sharing is particularly important in this region. It's such a vast and complex region. A lot of different cultural partners in the region. So the more we can share information, the more that we can collaborate together, I think that the better off and the stronger, the more resilient the whole region will be. Because at the end of the day, we really just want a stable, prosperous, and safe region.

I think that's enough about Op Blue Pacific. So I think we have quite a few people on the call today, so I would love to hear their questions.

MODERATOR: All right, thank you very much, ma'am. We'll now turn to the Q&A portion of today's briefing.

Our first question is a pre-submitted question from Jake Wise from the Fiji Times, who asks: "Are drug cartels using vast maritime spaces between Pacific Islands to avoid detection? And what patterns is the U.S. Coast Guard seeing across the region? How is Operation Blue Pacific helping countries like Fiji strengthen maritime domain awareness?"

CAPTAIN CONKLIN: Yeah, thanks for that question. I think we all agree that transnational criminal organizations threaten our regional stability and are definitely using the Pacific as a route for illicit narcotics. Through our collaborative Operation Blue Pacific patrols and information sharing with partners like Fiji, the Coast Guard is working to disrupt these networks and protect our communities from the dangers of these drugs that we're seeing - not just the drugs themselves, but the destabilizing effects that continue on through those types of activities.

I think, more specifically about what the Coast Guard is doing with Fiji, it's a very timely question. We actually have Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane; she's currently transiting to Fiji, where we will enact, or we intend to enact, our maritime law enforcement agreement with them, which we will embark several of their different maritime officers to include the navy, their police force, as well as some other fisheries officers. And the goal of those operations would be to deter any type of illicit maritime activity, exercising their laws within their country. And then so we can focus on fisheries, but we can also focus on counter-narcotics or any other illicit activities and also expand our maritime domain awareness throughout the region.

MODERATOR: All right, thank you. Our next question goes to Mike Cherney of the Wall Street Journal, who is on the line. I will unmute you now.

QUESTION: Hi, Captain. Thanks for, yeah, doing the call. I was just wondering for this year's Operation Blue Pacific, are you guys doing anything sort of new or cutting-edge in terms of locations of the deployments or the type of activities you guys are doing? And then secondly, are you planning any deployments in the South China Sea area? Thanks very much.

CAPTAIN CONKLIN: Yeah, thanks, Mike. I think that we're constantly evolving and looking for new opportunities to engage with our partners. I think one of the more exciting things that we've seen in this past year and looking forward to expanding is we brought the Coast Guard band that's based on the East Coast out to the Pacific. And it wasn't - obviously music is just a great way to exchange, have a cultural exchange. and have a good time and things like that, but it's also an opportunity to highlight some of our other activities. So for example, in the Marshall Islands, we're able to bring the band and also conduct a boating safety fair with the Marshallese authorities. So we were promoting boating safety. We had the band there, and it was just a great community turnout, but also had hopefully some positive prevention effects in the region.

And then kind of more broadly, when you asked about capabilities, we're lucky this year. We're expecting two more fast response cutters to be stationed in Guam. Those are about a 50-meter cutter. We currently have six of them in the region. And we also just recently received - we had three heavy-lift buoy tenders in Oceania. They all underwent significant depot-level maintenance, but they're all back out in the region. And most recently, Coast Guard Hollyhock just completed her first Operation Blue Pacific to the South Pacific.

I think - did that answer most of your question?

QUESTION: I asked about the South China Sea as well, if you had any deployments planned for that area.

CAPTAIN CONKLIN: Yeah. So South China Sea is outside of my purview. That's our Pacific area office. So I really am focused on the Pacific Islands.

MODERATOR: All right, thank you. Our next question goes to Antoinette Poivi from The National newspaper in Port Moresby. Please unmute yourself and go ahead. Antoinette, are you able to unmute yourself and go ahead?

QUESTION: Hey, Captain, can you hear me?

CAPTAIN CONKLIN: Yes, ma'am, I can.

QUESTION: All right, thank you. Could you just highlight what the purpose of the operation is in the Pacific, especially in the - in PNG, in areas surrounding PNG? Thank you.

CAPTAIN CONKLIN: Thank you. Yeah, so I think the overarching effort, right, is to counter illicit maritime activity, build partnerships and capacity throughout the region, and really reinforce good maritime governance through a myriad of activities. I think specifically to PNG, we're looking forward to continuing our efforts both with having personnel on the ground, supporting the operations center, developing mission planning, things like that, as well as I just mentioned Harriet Lane in Fiji, but she's also planning on going to Port Moresby, and we're looking forward to that visit. We'll embark shipriders as well, and they'll be patrolling. And what will be unique about that part of the patrol is that we'll also have some of our Australian counterparts as well as our New Zealand counterparts on board. So it's really going to be a multinational approach. And I think that's really kind of, like, I think one of the cornerstones of our efforts within the Pacific Islands is to really bring all the expertise and all the capabilities together and reinforce all of our abilities.

MODERATOR: Thank you. Our next question goes to Hideki Yui from NHK, who submitted a question in advance. He asked: "How does cooperation with the Japan Coast Guard and other likeminded partners extend beyond the Pacific Islands to broader regional maritime security, including areas such as the East China Sea?"

CAPTAIN CONKLIN: Thanks, Hideki. I think that, so as mentioned, my purview is really within the Pacific Islands, but the Japan-U.S. alliance is incredibly strong, and I think we rely on each other in a lot of different areas of cooperation. I think one thing to note is that the Coast Guard, our district, Oceania, does have an office that's in Japan, the Far East activities. And they maintain a continuous presence there, and that office is really unique. It's kind of a niche area that a lot of people don't know about the Coast Guard, where we do a lot of marine inspections, marine investigations, but also it's home to our international port security folks for the region. And what they do is they go out throughout the region and they go to larger ports and even some of the smaller domestic hubs to ensure that our ports are safe and secure, so that as we continue to support maritime commerce and global commerce throughout the region, we're conducting it as safely and as efficiently as possible.

But more broadly to Japan, I would say that the Japan Coast Guard and the Japan - or the U.S. Coast Guard have a really unique relationship. We were honored last week; the Japan Coast Guard Academy actually had their training ship here in Honolulu, and it was a nice opportunity to meet some of their cadets. We actually had some of our U.S. Coast Guard Academy cadets on board and the two superintendents of the academies got to meet. And so I think that that kind of shows you that it's not just what we're doing today, but we're really looking to build the professional attributes of our coast guards well into the future. And I'm at 28 years of my career and a Coast Guard Academy graduate, so I think that that just shows you that those relationships that we're building now hopefully will last lifetimes.

MODERATOR: Thank you. Our next question goes to Charlotte Graham-McLay from the Associated Press. Can you please unmute yourself and go ahead?

QUESTION: Sure. Can you hear me all right?

CAPTAIN CONKLIN: Yes, Charlotte. Go ahead, please.

QUESTION: Hi. I wondered what plans you had to offer support of any kind within the operation to the Solomon Islands in the near future, if there were particular operations or work that you were doing in connection with that country's government, and in particular anything new.

CAPTAIN CONKLIN: Yeah. I think that - so we work very closely with the Forum Fisheries Agency. We like to support their four major operations each year. And Solomon Islands hosts the Forum Fisheries Agency out of Honiara. So we are fortunate enough to be invited to have some of our air liaison and some of our mission planning experts participate in Honiara. And then in conjunction with those operations, we also fly our aircraft, provide surface patrols with our resources. But that's in conjunction with all the Forum Fisheries Agency partners as well as our Pacific Quad partners. So it's a really unique multinational operation.

And I think more specifically with our direct relations with the Solomon Islands government, we're always - the U.S. Coast Guard is always looking for partners where we have mutual and

overlapping ideals and desires. And I think that the Solomon Islands and the Coast Guard definitely have areas of cooperation or areas that we would like to expand our cooperation.

At the - coming up on the same patrol, Harriet Lane is intending to go into Honiara. It's the first time we've had a Coast Guard cutter there that I can recall. But so the crew is really looking forward to that opportunity. I think there'll be a great opportunity to conduct some professional and cultural exchanges. And obviously, we look to expand our relationship whenever possible.

MODERATOR: Thank you. Our next question goes to Johannes Neudecker from the German Press Agency. Can you please unmute yourself and go ahead? Johannes, are you able to unmute yourself?

QUESTION: Yes, I can try. Do you hear me?

MODERATOR: Yes, we can hear you.

CAPTAIN CONKLIN: Yes, Johannes, go ahead.

QUESTION: Okay, great. Thank you. So I'm also interested about interactions with China, and I would like to ask if you could elaborate on the expected presence of Chinese Coast Guard ships in the region during the operation, and if you can - if you see an increasing presence of Chinese Coast Guard ships in that area, and what does that mean for the U.S. and your operation there? Thank you.

CAPTAIN CONKLIN: Thank you. Yeah, so Blue Pacific, it's a collaborative mission that focuses on strengthening our relationships.

(Interruption.)

MODERATOR: I think we're having technical difficulties. Please stand by as we work to bring the captain back to the line.

CAPTAIN CONKLIN: All right, I think I just dropped, but, Tim, I think I'm back on.

MODERATOR: Yeah, you're good to go. We have you loud and clear.

CAPTAIN CONKLIN: All right, sorry about that. I think at the end of the day, we just - our goal is to uphold U.S. but also Pacific Island sovereign rights, everyone's national rights. And we do seek to have a constructive relationship with China wherever possible. In the past, we have collaborated with China Coast Guard during the North Pacific Coast Guard Forum. And we do have an active SAR relationship with them through the international search and rescue system. So I think that there are areas that we do collaborate, and we kind of welcome all legal and lawful actors in the region.

MODERATOR: Thanks. Our next question goes to Tanisha Sassah from the Post-Courier. Can you please unmute yourself and go ahead? Tanisha, are you - are you on the line?

QUESTION: Hello, can you hear me?

MODERATOR: Yes.

QUESTION: Great. Hi, Captain.

CAPTAIN CONKLIN: Hi, Tanisha.

QUESTION: So my question - hi. My question is: Drug trafficking is getting worse in PNG through maritime routes. Are there plans to increase the frequency of such patrols with PNG and other Pacific partners? And what are the U.S. Coast Guard's priorities for its engagements with PNG over the next five years?

CAPTAIN CONKLIN: Ooh, five years. (Laughter.) Thanks. Yeah, I think that the Coast Guard definitely plans to continue increasing our presence and our force posture in Oceania with the goal to absolutely disrupt illicit maritime activity. First you've got to detect and interdict and seize the narcotics, but that takes a lot of regional collaboration. And then you also have to have end games, right? What is the - what's the process to bring about - bring about justice with the cases, things like that. So there's a lot of work to be done, and I think we can do that not just - not just with cutters and ships and things like that or - but we also need to work within our legal frameworks and our information-sharing networks. So I think that that's a long kind of - yeah, five years is a good goal to kind of continue to work these efforts.

Meanwhile, we still have to do the immediate, what we've got to do today, right? And so I think we're definitely looking forward to enacting our maritime law enforcement agreement with Papua New Guinea here coming up shortly. And I know that we'll have both the defense force as well as fisheries and customs officers on board. So I think this is a great opportunity to continue to detect and deter all illicit activities.

MODERATOR: Thank you. Our next question is a pre-submitted question from Miriam Zarriga, also from the Post-Courier, who asks: "Is the United States considering a permanent or more regular Coast Guard presence in the Pacific Islands region? What challenges does the Coast Guard face in monitoring the vast Pacific Ocean, and how can PNG help address them?"

CAPTAIN CONKLIN: Yeah, I think that's kind of a follow-on to the previous question, is that we definitely are committed to regional presence and cooperation and looking to continue to advance our partnerships to improve maritime governance. We are looking forward to having two new fast response cutters in Guam, which will, with the total of those five cutters, that'll give us a lot more capability to get to Papua New Guinea and some of our other regional partners. So I think that there is definitely opportunity for expanding our partnerships. And then we continue to look for unique ways, whether we put our Coast Guard officers on other vessels or we continue to bring shipriders onto our vessels. I think these are all areas that we can continue to collaborate. But yeah, we definitely look forward to future collaboration.

MODERATOR: All right, thanks. Our next question goes to Mian Gao from Phoenix TV. Can you please unmute yourself and go ahead?

QUESTION: Yeah. Hello, Captain. I'm Gao Mian from Phoenix TV, and my question is: China has established and advanced its Blue Partnership with Pacific Island countries since 2017. So what's your assessment of China's maritime cooperation and development support to Pacific Island countries? And does the United States plan to establish regular communication and coordination channels with China on nontraditional security issues such as military search and rescue and combating transnational maritime crimes under the BP framework? Thank you.

CAPTAIN CONKLIN: Thank you for the question. While I can't really speak to the maritime cooperation between China and Pacific Island countries, what I can tell you is that the United States has 12 bilateral law enforcement agreements with the Pacific Island countries. And when we use those, that we work with those host nations, they make the targeting, they decide which vessels to go after, and then they conduct the law enforcement operations within their own EEZs. And then if there are any identified violations, it's that host country that determines the penalties and the follow-on procedures.

Unlawful activities at sea pose profound challenges. I think we all know that. And ocean governance is such a big piece of it. Let's see. I think that the Coast Guard does regularly communicate with China and other countries in the region on areas of mutual interest, such as search and rescue, which I mentioned earlier. For example, the U.S. and China are both signatories to the Asia/Pacific Search and Rescue Plan, and our rescue coordination centers frequently contact each other to ensure that there's an appropriate SAR response in the region. So I think we do communicate with each other, and we deal with the countries that want to deal with us.

MODERATOR: Thank you very much. Our next question goes to Kate Judson of the Philippine Star. Can you please unmute yourself and go ahead?

QUESTION: Okay. It is unmuted? Oh, kia ora. So New Zealand has long emphasized Pacific-led partnerships and sovereignty, while also stepping up regional security engagement. Can you share any concrete examples of how Operation Blue Pacific is working with partners such as New Zealand to support Pacific priorities on the ground?

CAPTAIN CONKLIN: Yeah. Hi, Kate. Kia ora. I think that we definitely hear loud and clear and support the concept that Pacific-led responses to Pacific-led issues - I think we're keenly attuned to that. I think that the U.S. does consider themselves a Pacific country, particularly with our American Samoa territory, Guam, CNMI, and then of course here in Hawaii. So we do consider ourselves part of the Pacific family, maybe a little bit more on the periphery.

But I think specifically to New Zealand, we work exceptionally well with New Zealand. Like I mentioned, we're going to have Royal New Zealand Navy personnel on board one of our cutters coming up here in the near future. We operate with their air force conducting operations such as

Tui Moana that just wrapped up. And then in other areas of marine environmental response, as well as search and rescue, we work with Maritime New Zealand to collaborate, where we can bring up the capabilities throughout the region. A disaster in one part of the region is just as disastrous to the other part of the region, and a lot of those capabilities are best shared amongst all of us.

MODERATOR: Thanks. We have time for one more question and it'll go to Christopher Cottrell of the Micronesia Sun. Can you please unmute yourself and go ahead?

QUESTION: Hi. Thanks, Captain Conklin, for your time. Can you hear me?

CAPTAIN CONKLIN: Yes, Chris, I can.

QUESTION: Great. Can you describe any specifics about the two narco submarines that washed up in the Marshall Islands? Part one. And secondly, how and when are patrols for the Marshalls, Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau going to increase in the coming year? Thank you.

CAPTAIN CONKLIN: Yeah, thanks. So the Coast Guard definitely works very closely with our Marshallese partners to deter drug smuggling and human trafficking as well as other transnational maritime crimes. And we've kind of actually broken off the three Freely Associated States into an operation that we now call Operation Rematau, just so that we can kind of focus more closely on what those specific issues are. We definitely are going to continue to maintain our relationships with them. Obviously, under the Compact of Free Association, we look to advance a secure and open, prosperous Pacific. And as we get more resources in the region, between Guam and Hawaii, obviously, there's the corridor of those three Freely Associated States. So I think we work very closely with all three of those nations and tie their security closely to ours.

MODERATOR: Thank you very much. And now, Captain Conklin, if you have any closing remarks, I'll turn it back to you.

CAPTAIN CONKLIN: Yeah, thanks, Tim. No, I just appreciate everybody's time and the opportunity to talk about the Coast Guard and Operation Blue Pacific. I could spend probably a couple hours taking these questions, but it was a nice, diverse group of people as well as diverse questions. And we just look forward to continuing our partnership in the region and thank everybody for their time.

MODERATOR: Thank you so much, Captain. Thank you all for joining us today. We will provide a transcript of today's briefing to participating journalists as soon as it's available. If you have any feedback or further questions, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. Thanks again and we hope you can join us for another briefing soon. Bye for now.

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