Taiwan excluded from RIMPAC war games as US avoids crossing Beijing’s red line

Name: China urges US to end F-16 jet sales and military contact with Taiwan
Uploaded: 2020-08-17T07:49:40.000Z
Duration: 1 min 3 s
Description: China urges US to end F-16 jet sales and military contact with Taiwan

Self-ruled island had been hoping to join the two-week drill that began on Monday as an observer

Meanwhile, its air force has told pilots to avoid ‘misfiring’ when sent to repel fighter jets from the mainland

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The US-led Rim of the Pacific Exercise, the world’s biggest international maritime drill, is held every two years. Photo: Reuters

Minnie ChanandLawrence Chung

Published: 3:49pm, 17 Aug 2020Updated: 12:22pm, 18 Aug 2020

Taiwan has been excluded from the US-led Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) in what analysts see as a sign that Washington is treading carefully to avoid crossing Beijing’s red line on the self-ruled island.

The two-week RIMPAC – the world’s largest international maritime drill held by the US every second year – kicked off on Monday in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Led by the US Navy, it brings together naval forces primarily from the Pacific Rim – this year South Korea, Canada, Australia, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, New Zealand, Brunei and France – to promote regional stability and cooperation. More than half the 25 countries that took part in the last RIMPAC drill are not participating this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

01:03

China urges US to end F-16 jet sales and military contact with Taiwan

Taiwan had been hoping to join the war games, hoping stronger ties with the US would help it to get an invitation to participate as an observer, but it was not forthcoming. Military spokesman Shih Shun-wen confirmed on Monday that the island’s defence ministry had not received an invitation to take part, however he stressed that the “cooperation between Taiwan and the US will benefit regional stability”.

Late last month Shih said Taiwan wanted to take part. “We are interested in participating in RIMPAC as an observer as it would enable us to learn from the cooperative training and humanitarian assistance operations,” he said.

01:25

Hong Kong-based warship joins drill in South China Sea

Washington’s decision not to grant Taiwan observer status comes as relations have deteriorated across the Taiwan Strait, and as Beijing, Washington and Taipei seek to calm the tensions. Beijing considers Taiwan to be part of mainland territory, and has not ruled out the use of force to bring the island under its control.