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MANILA / AP
The Philippine defense chief and two other Cabinet members on Saturday toured a US aircraft carrier patrolling the disputed South China Sea on the invitation of the Navy, US Embassy officials said.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II visited the USS Carl Vinson along with three Philippine security officials, said US Embassy spokeswoman Molly Koscina.
The visit shows continuing top-level engagements between Philippine officials and the US military despite Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s threat to scale back engagements with American forces while reaching out to China and Russia. There was no immediate reaction from China, which had opposed US patrols in waters it has claimed virtually in its entirety.
The US ambassador to Manila, Sung Kim, accompanied the Philippine officials to the Carl Vinson, where they watched F18 fighter jets land and take off on catapult on the flight deck and met US navy commanders in charge of the 95,000-ton carrier as it sailed in the disputed waters, Koscina said.