The United States said on Monday it had no hidden agenda to use its warships to patrol the Strait of Malacca, one of the word’s busiest sea lanes and a major focus of concerns over global security. A U.S. envoy told a conference in Malaysia that Washington’s proposal for a Regional Maritime Security Initiative (RMSI), a multi-lateral framework for improving security in the strait, would respect the sovereignty of the waterway’s littoral states. “RMSI is not a stalking horse for U.S. Navy patrols,” said Thomas Daughton, political affairs counselor at the U.S. embassy in Malaysia. “Patrols can help build security in the Malacca Strait but they are not part of the RMSI vision….” U.S. offers to help secure the strait have aroused suspicion in some of the three main nations flanking it — Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore — that Washington wants its forces to play a role in safeguarding the waterway. The United States denies this and is pursuing RMSI, which calls for a single coordinating body for security operations in the waterway. Full Story
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