The US, Italy and China, who all sent aircraft carriers to the Indo-Pacific region ahead of the 40th edition of the Han Kuang military drills to be held on Monday next week, did so for different political reasons, academics said yesterday.
The US carrier was sent to familiarize its allies with their joint tactics, and the Italian carrier was sent to demonstrate military cooperation, Tamkang University Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies assistant professor Lin Ying-yu (林穎佑) said yesterday.
The Chinese carrier was sent as a warning that China would intercept US carrier strike groups if a cross-strait conflict occurred, Institute for National Defense and Security Research associate research fellow Shu Hsiao-huang (舒孝煌) said yesterday.
Photo: CNA
The biennial Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC), the world’s largest international maritime exercise, began on June 27 and runs through Aug. 1. It features 29 nations, 40 surface vessels, three submarines, more than 150 aircraft and about 25,000 personnel.
The second stage of RIMPAC began on Monday last week with the high-profile US aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson departing Pearl Harbor.
China was not invited to participate in RIMPAC, but it is to hold maritime exercises with Russia from today to Wednesday in the South China Sea near Zhanjiang in Guangdong Province.
However, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s aircraft carrier Shandong with the pennant number 17 and its frigates were seen conducting aerial and maritime drills in the Philippine Sea southeast of Taiwan, the Japanese Ministry of Defense Joint Staff Office said on Tuesday.
The US Coast Guard on Wednesday also reported that it saw four Chinese warships in the waters surrounding the Aleutian Islands in the Bering Sea.
Italy’s ITS Cavour carrier strike group has conducted joint drills with US littoral combat ships as part of the exercise.
The US Seventh Fleet on Friday last week said the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group held joint maritime drills with the Indian Navy and Air Force in the Indian Ocean.
The rare presence of the Italian aircraft carrier ITS Cavour in the Indo-Pacific region is more about tactical training than an indication of an extended Italian presence in the region, Shu said, adding that the US knows that European allies are unlikely to offer military assistance if a war broke out in the Taiwan Strait.
European nations send warships to the Indo-Pacific region mainly for military exercises, he said, adding that the ITS Cavour’s stopover at Japan is to signal military cooperation.
Shu said that China is not attempting to compete with the US’ RIMPAC exercise by sending the Shandong aircraft carrier and frigates to conduct drills in the Philippine Sea.
These are routine exercise as it is Shandong’s first time performing open sea drills in the western Pacific after it underwent a year of maintenance, he said.
The timing of Shandong’s entrance into the western Pacific indicates its might participate in the joint maritime exercise to be held by China and Russia, Lin said.
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