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发帖数: 208 | 1 RIMPAC 2018: China Invited to Participate in Major US Naval Exercise
China has been invited to participate in next year’s Rim of the Pacific
exercise.
By Franz-Stefan Gady
May 31, 2017
The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has been invited to attend next
year’s Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC 2018), the U.S. Navy said in a
statement on May 29.
“All 26 nations that participated in RIMPAC 2016 have been invited to
return for RIMPAC 2018,” Commander Ryan Perry, a spokesman for the U.S.
Third Fleet, told Defense News earlier this week.
The U.S. Pacific Fleet-sponsored RIMPAC exercise, the world’s largest
international naval exercise, is held biennially in the summer months of
even numbered years in waters around the Hawaiian Islands and southern
California. The drill usually lasts a couple of weeks.
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) granted permission for PLAN
representatives to participate in a RIMPAC 2018 planning meeting in June in
San Diego, California. Two more such meetings are scheduled prior to the
beginning of the naval drill; however, further DoD approvals will be
required for China to attend subsequent conferences.
The National Defense Authorization Act for the Fiscal Year 2000 (FY 2000
NDAA) prohibits contacts between China and the United States that can “
create a national security risk due to an inappropriate exposure.” The NDAA
lists 12 operational areas, ranging from advanced combined-arms and joint
combat operations to arms sales or military-related technology transfers,
that are prohibited.
Should China accept the invitation it would be the third consecutive time
for PLAN ships and personnel to participate in the drill.
In 2016, the PLAN dispatched five ships and 1,200 personnel including an
Anwei-class hospital ship, the Daishandao (or Peace Ark); a Fusu-class
replenishment ship, the Gaoyao Hu; a Dalao-class submarine rescue ship, the
Changdao; and two surface combatant ships, the Luyang II-class guided-
missile destroyer Xian and Jiangkai II-class guided-missile frigate Hengshui.
One of the highlights of last year’s Chinese participation was a joint PLAN
-U.S. Navy submarine rescue drill. “The practical exercise involved the
Dalao (Type 926)-class submarine rescue ship Changdao of the PLAN’s South
Sea Fleet and U.S. Navy submariners who, aboard the Changdao, participated
in launching a LR7 deep submergence rescue vehicle,” I explained last July.
The PLAN also participated in a forum on providing medical assistance and
disaster relief, as well as counterpiracy, diving and salvage, and search
and rescue exercises. Russia took part in the exercise in 2012 but has not
been invited ever since. During the 2014 and 2016 iterations the Russian
Navy dispatched an intelligence ship and a destroyer to shadow RIMPAC
participants.
Last year’s five-week long RIMPAC exercise saw the participation of 45
surface ships, five submarines, over 200 aircraft, and 25,000 personnel from
26 countries. RIMPAC drills and exercises cover the entire spectrum of
naval operations ranging from disaster response and maritime security
operations to sea control and complex warfighting. |
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