By Ankit Panda
China is sending ships to RIMPAC 2014. Is that really a big deal?
China is participating in RIMPAC 2014 for the first time this year. The exercise is the largest naval exercise of its sort in the world and will take place from June 26 to August 1. This year’s exercise will involve 47 surface ships, six submarines, over 200 aircraft, and 25,000 troops. While Chinese media was content to criticize RIMPAC in the past as a blatant attempt at U.S.-led containment given Beijing’s exclusion, news that China would be invited on a roughly equal footing this year has somewhat placated critics. However, while Beijing’s participation in the exercise is noteworthy, will it actually led to less tension in the U.S.-China relationship?
For the United States, including China in RIMPAC seemed to be on the cards at least since 2010 when the exercise began growing rather quickly. While 14 nations participated in RIMPAC in 2010, 2012′s iteration ended up with 22 participants. It was only a matter of time before either the exercise began being perceived as intolerably exclusionary by China or the United States ended up inviting Beijing. The invitation wasn’t begrudging either. The United States has a stated goal of increasing military-to-military ties with China, particularly the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). Doing so abets transparency and can help prevent misunderstandings between their two militaries.
Read the full story at The Diplomat