A leading member of the US Congress has condemned China for sending a spy ship to the ongoing Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) naval exercises, saying that in the future participation in the biennial drills should be reserved for US allies and partners such as Taiwan.
“Given China’s recent disregard for principles like freedom of navigation and the peaceful resolution of territorial disputes, it was already a stretch to reward Beijing with an invite to such a prestigious event like RIMPAC,” Randy Forbes, chairman of the US House of Representatives’ Armed Services Subcommittee on Sea Power, told reporters on Friday.
In an e-mail exchange with the Taipei Times, Forbes added: “Now, they have chosen to disrespect the 20 other international participants by sailing an intelligence-gathering ship directly into the middle of the exercise.”
“RIMPAC participation should be reserved for US allies and partners like Taiwan, who share our interests in a free, stable and prosperous Asia-Pacific region,” he wrote.
In October last year, the Republican congressman said he pleaded with US Secretary of Defense Charles Hagel to invite Taiwan to RIMPAC.
Forbes said that while Beijing had been invited, Taipei “remains uninvited, despite the opportunity to enhance its humanitarian assistance and disaster-relief capabilities.”
US President Barack Obama’s administration reportedly decided not to invite Taiwan largely because of objections from China.
Forty-nine ships from 22 countries are currently taking part in RIMPAC drills off the coast of Hawaii, with China represented by four ships and 1,100 personnel. It is the first time since the exercise was launched in 1971 that China has been involved.
This is one of the reasons military experts have been “extremely surprised” that Beijing chose to send a Dongdiao-class Auxiliary General Intelligence spy ship to monitor the other participants, observers say.
US Naval War College associate professor Andrew Erickson said the vessel has radar antennae, surveillance equipment and tracking capabilities.
Writing in the National Interest this week, Erickson said the Chinese spy ship “monitoring RIMPAC right now is no camouflaged, converted fishing trawler like the Soviet spy ships of the Cold War era: It is a clearly dedicated surveillance vessel.”
He wrote that civilian spectators and US government officials are calling the move “rude and aggressive — precisely the sort of technically legal, but politically irritating action that, if pursued by the US, China would publicly condemn as undermining strategic trust.”
Despite all of this, the Pentagon’s top military official in Asia, US Navy Admiral Samuel Locklear, appeared to play down the incident, saying that China’s actions had not stopped the exercise nor created any difficulties.
However, he added that: “RIMPAC is an opportunity to build trust and confidence and the introduction of the AGI [spy ship] kind of made it look a little odd.”
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