Beijing participates for the first time in U.S. military maneuvers

The largest international naval exercise RIMPAC (Rim of Pacific), organized by the U.S., on Thursday in waters off of Hawaii has for the first time ever included China. The partnership comes at a delicate moment apparently military ties between the two countries after a series of mutual recriminations about Chinese territorial disputes with its neighbors in the South Sea and East China and the indictment of five Chinese military personals in U.S. cyber espionage case. Yet despite the large mutual distrust, deepened collaboration did not stop.

These naval exercises are held every two years since 1971, are represented in this twenty-fourth edition 23 contributing nations 47 ships, six submarines and 200 aircraft and helicopters, according to Pentagon. The defense ministry in Beijing has indicated that his country participates with a fleet of four ships: missile destroyer Haikou, the Yueyang frigate, the ship Supply Qiandahou and Peace Ark hospital ship.

As indicated by the captain of Haikou, Yan Peng, China’s participation will focus mainly on tasks related to cooperation in nontraditional security areas such as the fight against terrorism and piracy, as well as search and rescue exercises.

“I hope that through the RIMPAC exercises, exchanges and cooperation as well as trust and mutual understanding between China and the USA will further expand, “said Yan the Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

When Yan mentions the idea of promoting “confidence”, he knows what he is speaking about.  Suspicions between the two countries are close to the surface. The U.S. decision to file charges last May against five Chinese military course cyber espionage against U.S. companies caused deep unease in the government in Beijing and the powerful People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Today, US  Ambassador in Beijing, Max Baucus reiterated that “cyber theft by way of trade secrets by state actors in China has emerged as a serious threat to our economy and therefore our national security.”

In the view of Professor Zhou Yongsheng, University of International Relations of China, ” China’s participation in the maneuvers can promote the improvement of bilateral relations, especially in the military. Although the U.S. aligns with other countries, its main strategy is still seek cooperation with China. Therefore we say that the general direction of bilateral cooperation has not changed. Yes, there will still be obstacles, setbacks and conflicts in that way. “

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Posted by Nadeem Bajwa on Jun 27 2014. Filed under USA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.