Foreign allies join defence force

By the numbers

As security tensions rise in the Asia-Pacific region and New Zealand re-affirms its commitment to old friends and allies, more than 300 of the country’s defence personnel, along with a warship and three planes descend on Hawaii.

Biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) is the world’s largest international maritime exercise, with 25 countries, 52 ships and submarines, 18 national land forces, about 200 aircraft, and 25,000 personnel.

China’s growing role in the region, and the threat of further escalation loom, large at this year’s meeting, with the country being disinvited from the exercise following its militarisation of the South China Sea.

New United States IndoPacific Command head Admiral Philip Davidson said free and open maritime routes were essential for the IndoPacific region.

‘‘I think that our interests should be in a free and open Indo-Pacific, as opposed to some alternative structure that is rather opaque,’’ Davidson said during his first foreign media interview since taking the top job at the command.

In a room filled with reporters and public affairs staff, Davidson spoke frankly about the need for Pacific Rim countries to work together in order to maintain free and open seas, ‘‘that every country has rights to’’, and which he believed China’s actions were threatening.

‘‘We’re going to compete with China where we need to compete.’’

The joint military exercise, hosted by the United States, comes just weeks after New Zealand Defence Minister Ron Mark launched the Government’s rebooted defence policy paper, which, for the first time, called out China by name for its behaviour in the South China Sea and growing influence in the Pacific.

‘‘We live in turbulent times, the world is changing and there has been a re-emergence of great power competition,’’ the policy paper said.

Rimpac tested New Zealand’s capability and readiness to respond to a crisis in partnership with other nations and was an important part of the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) training programme, Mark said.

‘‘Ninety-nine per cent of New Zealand’s trade (by volume) travels by sea. It is vital that the NZDF are able to participate in, and conduct operations, which ensure safe passage for ships coming to, and leaving our shores.

‘‘Many of those ships need to travel through busy sea lanes and while these may be far from New Zealand, they are as important to us as the Tasman Sea.’’

Mark said Rimpac was a great training ground for NZDF personnel.

‘‘The NZDF has a role to play in responding to natural disasters, maintaining freedom of navigation, conducting counter piracy operations, ensuring adherence to United Nations sanctions, stopping the trafficking of people and drugs, or providing a peaceful and secure environment to vulnerable nations.’’

To top it off, just days after releasing his bold new policy strategy, Mark announced the purchase of four Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime military surveillance aircraft – known for their submarine-hunting capabilities.

Rimpac takes more than a year to plan, with disaster relief and combat scenarios planned out.