Taiwan intends to participate in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) military exercise, but the biggest obstacle has been an objection raised by China, Ministry of National Defense officials said.
“We have sought such opportunities and have expressed our willingness to take part in RIMPAC, which is the largest naval exercise in the Pacific Ocean and is hosted by the US,” Deputy Minister of National Defense Admiral Chen Yung-kang (陳永康) said when he tabled a report at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday.
Chen also said talks are under way between the navy and its US counterpart on the use of the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES).
After establishing CUES protocol based on international radio signal communication procedures, Chen said that Taiwan’s “navy could then have the opportunity to go on toward the next step of participating in joint multinational naval exercises.”
Designed to reduce uncertainty and facilitate communication, CUES works to ensure safe and professional interactions on the high seas. The framework is also a tool for sea services to better promote international cooperation and transparency between the armed forces of different nations.
“Japan, South Korea, the Philippines — and China as well — each of them first agreed upon CUES with the US, then followed up with joint military exercises and further cooperation between the US and their armed forces,” Chen said.
“We were not able to do so in the past because of objections raised by China, but our armed forces are seeking to take part in bilateral or multilateral military exercises, and we will not give up. It is up to the host country. If they invite us, then we will participate,” he added.
Meanwhile, ministry officials yesterday confirmed that the military plans for the first time to dispatch Lockheed P-3C Orion marine patrol aircraft on surveillance missions to the South China Sea in the near future.
The ministry’s budget report sent to the legislature said that the military has taken delivery of eight US-made P-3Cs and another four are to be delivered by the end of this year.
The aircraft are mainly engaged in marine reconnaissance and joint surveillance in Taiwan’s surrounding waters and its air defense identification zone, the report said.
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