Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of U.S. Naval Operations, on Tuesday urged countries in Asia to improve their communications at sea to avoid incidents that could heighten tension in the region over territorial disputes.
"We need to avoid any kind of conflict, avoid miscalculation, and the best way to do that is to sort out how to talk to each other . . . learn how to communicate in the high seas as professional mariners," he said at a news conference in Singapore.
Greenert, who was speaking on the sidelines of an international maritime defense show in Singapore, had been asked about the U.S. approach to the region's territorial rows, such as those in the South China Sea and also the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.