China’s absence in Rimpac maritime war exercise benefits no one, least of all America

Exercise Rimpac, the world’s largest biennial international maritime warfare exercise, held off Hawaii from June through July, is without China this year. The US decision to disinvite China to the Rim of the Pacific drill was announced in May and mentioned by US Secretary of Defence James Mattis at the Shangri-La Dialogue held in early June in Singapore. The decision was based on what the US sees as Beijing’s militarisation of islands in the South China Sea. 

Chinese naval vessels participated in Rimpac in 2014 and 2016, but were only allowed to take part in the humanitarian part of the exercise, such as counter-piracy, disaster relief and onboard inspections. These activities are not professionally challenging for the Chinese navy, which has performed similar drills quite often, either by itself or with other countries, including the US.

The restrictions on operations were made in accordance with a bill passed in 2000, which does not allow exchanges between the US military and the People’s Liberation Army in areas other than humanitarian operations, for fear that any exchanges beyond these could contribute to the PLA’s warfighting capabilities and create a national security risk.