The head of the U.S. Coast Guard wants to send ships to the South China Sea, a heavily contested region where China is taking a hard-line stance.

“When you look at the East and South China seas, look at China’s Coast Guard, it is really the first face of China,” Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Paul Zukunft told Voice of America.

“I have proposed to the Department of Defense that if they were to leverage the U.S. Coast Guard, I would look at providing resources to provide the face of the United States behind a Coast Guard ship, should that be a consideration for our approach to the East and South China seas with the next administration,” he added.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2016/12/01/us-coast-guard-eager-for-deployment-to-the-highly-contested-south-china-sea/#ixzz4RvILLlpG