Adm. Jonathan Greenert departs the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ship Datong FFG 580 on a July 2014 visit to China. (Image: Flickr User - U.S. Pacific Command) >>
By Shannon Tiezzi
China and America’s top naval leaders have a wish-list for the relationship.
Outgoing U.S. Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral Jon Greenert said that this Chinese counterpart, Admiral Wu Shengli, is “very interested in RIMPAC 2016,” Defense Newsreported. Greenert spoke with Wu for 90 minutes in a video call on Tuesday morning, then recounted parts of that conversation at a Washington, D.C. luncheon hosted by the Mine Warfare Association, the Surface Navy Association GWC, Association of Naval Aviation, and the Submarine League.
The Rim of the Pacific Exercise, or RIMPAC, is billed as the “world’s largest international maritime exercise” by the U.S. Navy, whose Pacific Fleet hosts the biennial exercise near Hawaii. China was invited to participate in RIMPAC for the first time in 2014, but some have already argued that the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) should not be invited back in 2016. The Diplomat’s own Ankit Panda argued in May that excluding China from RIMPAC 2016 “imposes… a very reasonable cost on China for its preference for unilateralism on the open seas.”
On Wednesday, Greenert told the audience that Wu “really wants to come to RIMPAC” in 2016. “He views the exercises as a positive step in dealing with challenges,” Greenert said. But he suggested that, ultimately, the decision would be made by higher-ups: “[Wu] wants that to work out. But we all have bosses.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat