UPDATE 2-U.S. to base Coast Guard cutters in western Pacific in response to China

(Adds context on Pompeo trip to Asia, byline)
By David Brunnstrom
WASHINGTON, Oct 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. national security
adviser said on Friday the U.S Coast Guard was basing Enhanced
Response Cutters in the western Pacific for maritime security
missions, citing illegal fishing and harassment of vessels by
China.
In a statement, Robert O'Brien also said the Coast Guard
planned to evaluate next fiscal year the feasibility of basing
Fast Response Cutters in American Samoa in the South Pacific.
The statement described the United States as a Pacific power
and added that China's "illegal, unreported, and unregulated
fishing, and harassment of vessels operating in the exclusive
economic zones of other countries in the Indo-Pacific threatens
our sovereignty, as well as the sovereignty of our Pacific
neighbors and endangers regional stability."
It said U.S. efforts, including by the Coast Guard, were
"critical to countering these destabilizing and malign actions."
"To that end, the USCG is strategically homeporting
significantly enhanced Fast Response Cutters ... in the western
Pacific," the statement said, without detailing where the
vessels would be based or how many were involved.
O'Brien said the new-generation Coast Guard vessels would
conduct maritime security missions, such as fisheries patrols,
and enhance maritime-domain awareness and enforcement efforts in
collaboration with "regional partners who have limited offshore
surveillance and enforcement capacity."
"Enhancing the presence of the USCG in the Indo-Pacific
ensures the United States will remain the maritime partner of
choice in the region," his statement said.
The Coast Guard did not immediately respond to a request for
comment on the statement, which came just ahead of a planned
visit to Asia by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Pompeo led a meeting of foreign ministers from India, Japan
and Australia this month in Tokyo, a grouping Washington hopes
to develop as a bulwark against China's growing assertiveness
and extensive maritime claims in the region, including to most
of the strategic South China Sea.
The U.S. Navy regularly angers China by conducting what it
calls "freedom of navigation" operations close to some of the
islands China occupies that are also claimed by other states.
O'Brien's announcement comes less than two weeks ahead of
the Nov. 3 U.S. presidential election, in which President
Donald Trump's campaign has made a tough approach to China a
major foreign policy theme.