Most welcome PLA joining Rimpac exercise with region's other navies
Joint naval event seen by most as opportunity to calm rivalries and boost ties with the US - but others urge caution
The Pacific has never been entirely at peace for the past century. But never before have such efforts been made to achieve concord as navies from across the region - many of them rivals - join in this year's US-led Rim of the Pacific military exercise, which runs from today until Friday.
The world's largest international maritime warfare exercise, also known as Rimpac, is held every two years in waters around Hawaii. This year 55 vessels, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel from 22 countries including Japan, the Philippines, South Korea and India are taking part.
A landmark development this year is China's participation, its first since Rimpac started in 1971. Chinese media have been avidly following the lead-up to the exercise, but are divided over the significance of the People's Liberation Army's deployment.
"The PLA participation in Rimpac is a milestone," the English-language China Daily trumpeted.
"This shows that the US has the will to improve bilateral military ties," said the party's mouthpiece, People's Daily. The military's own PLA Daily said "China's participation showed the country's willingness to promote healthy development of military ties with the US".
However, the Global Times, the hawkish tabloid known for its nationalistic stance, struck a note of caution.
"Even though the participation in itself is significant, we also see that Sino-US military exchanges remain at a shallow stage," it said in one commentary. "Many remain pessimistic about whether the two sides can build mutual strategic trust," said another of the paper's editorials.