08/03/2014: The Rim of the Pacific Exercise 2014, or RIMPAC, comes to a close after more than a month of exercises involving 22 nations and more than 25,000 personnel.
Transparency was a much highlighted quality for the exercise, and the PRC had its own version of transparency on display with regard to all of the allies and partners and with its own form of selective multinational participation: if I don’t like you, I don’t play.
One might note that the Chinese contribution to transparency is to make clear their politics and intentions:
Refusing to participate in an exercise commanded by a Japanese officer and including their intelligence assets wherever they go.
A great way to build partnership capacity or put another way with partners like this who needs enemies!
And to correct the video, China and Brunei were not the only new first time participants: the Indians for the first time brought a warship to US waters and the Norwegians came from Europe.
Credit Video: INSERT HERE
DOD News
8/01/14
And according to a story by Nathan King:
August 1, 2014
It was the biggest ever Rim of the Pacific exercises, with first-time participation from Beijing that included the missile destroyer the Haikou conducting live fire drills, and the hospital ship the Peace Ark demonstrating its humanitarian capabilities.
The 1,100 Chinese sailors in Hawaii were able to rub shoulders with their American counterparts and many from the Asia Pacific region, Latin America and beyond.
It was also a chance for the U.S. to show off its military hardware like the aircraft carrier the Ronald Reagan and its array of military jets. And while RIMPAC’s aim to increase trust and transparency among the navies was met during the month-long drill, according to U.S. and Chinese officials, suspicions remain.
The U.S. announced it spotted a Chinese surveillance ship during the exercises not far from the Reagan and while authorities admitted it was not a maritime violation, the chief commander of U.S. Pacific Command put it this way.
It’s worth noting the U.S. often uses its surveillance ships inside Chinese waters and despite continued strategic differences over the South China Sea, both China and the U.S. hailed the Rim of the Pacific drill as a way to increase cooperation and decrease tensions.
In fact, China has been invited back to the next international RIMPAC exercises in 2016 and has been asked to bring even more military assets. CCTV America’s Nathan King reports from Washington.
RIMPAC is coming to an end. RIMPAC stands for Rim of the Pacific exercise, lasted for 37 days in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
It was the first time for China to participate in the drills. China and the U.S. were among 22 nations that took part. The drills involved live-fire practice, drills on humanitarian-aid delivery, and war gaming. RIMPAC’s aim was to increase trust and transparency among participating navies.