29 countries are taking part in the naval war games in Hawaii

The biennial Rim of the Pacific Exercise, the world’s largest recurring naval warfare exercise, began this week in Hawaii as warships, aircraft and personnel from 29 countries gathered on the island.

The combined forces will conduct a mix of naval combat exercises and humanitarian assistance operations in a region where both tensions and global temperatures are rising. Leaders of the RIMPAC task force held a news conference in Pearl Harbor on Thursday morning, addressing both local reporters and international media who have flown to the islands to cover the exercise, which lasts through early August.

For local media, a familiar face addressed the crowd. Vice Admiral John Wade is the Navy officer best known to Hawaii residents as the leader of the task force that removed most of the fuel from the Navy’s underground Red Hill facility. In 2021, jet fuel from Red Hill contaminated the Navy’s water system on Oahu, which serves 93,000 people and sits just 100 feet above a key aquifer that most of Oahu relies on for drinking water.

Wade finally completed that mission this year, and now a new Navy task force is tasked with closing Red Hill. Since then, Wade has assumed command of the Navy’s 3rd Fleet, based in San Diego, and now leads the RIMPAC task force. He said his experience at Red Hill is on his mind as he prepares for the exercise.

“I explained to everyone from the highest to the lowest (employee) that there is a connection to all things here in Hawaii – people, land, water, wildlife, flowers – and that it is a sacred responsibility to be good stewards of the environment,” Wade told reporters. “(While) carrying out this mission, I learned a lot through self-study about Hawaii and (its) cultural traditions. … It’s very important that we understand all of this in context.”

The Red Hill fuel reserve has already played a role in RIMPAC. According to a Navy press release at the time, the Red Hill facility delivered over 19 million gallons of fuel to participating U.S. and foreign ships and aircraft in 2018. But in 2022, the U.S. military began implementing a “distributed” fueling plan that places an emphasis on tankers and refueling operations at sea. Several of the ships participating in the exercise are tankers.

“Without fuel, we cannot conduct our exercises to maneuver and get from one place to another,” Wade said, noting that ensuring safe refueling is important for both people and the environment.

“You want to be safe, you don’t want to hurt anyone or cause damage to equipment, obviously with hazardous materials, especially given the reasons and the environmental consequences,” Wade said. “We want to make sure we do it right.”

The return of RIMPAC sparked protests and condemnation from several environmental groups in Hawaii.

“I respect the views of everyone who cares about the environment, and I apply the Aloha spirit to respect everyone, even the critics,” Wade said. “And it’s a valid criticism, and that’s why I’ve made environmental stewardship one of my priorities here so that we’re doing safe training, but doing it in a respectful way.”

The forces involved are familiar with potential dangers. During the 2022 edition of RIMPAC, two sailors were seriously injured by a fire aboard the Chilean Navy ship BAP Guise, requiring the forces involved to work together to evacuate them and bring them to the island where they were treated at the Army Tripler Medical Center.

“What we do in the air, at sea, underwater and on the ground is inherently dangerous,” Wade said. “So we will always have a plan and consider safety in everything we do. And we will also employ effective risk management. This doesn’t just apply to our operations; I’ve pushed through senior leadership that this also applies when our team is out (in the city) conducting recreational activities. The bottom line is that I just don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

The Guise was repaired after the fire and returned to Hawaii this year. Chilean Navy Commodore Alberto Guerrero serves as deputy commander of the RIMPAC task force.

“I am truly honored and humbled to be appointed Deputy Commander for this RIMPAC 2024,” said Guerrero. “I also have the privilege of having participated three times before this edition. I know beautiful Hawaii, the beautiful area, so I am truly honored to be here again.”

Countries from all sides of the Pacific and even from Europe are taking part in the exercise. This year, the German Navy is participating for the first time with two ships. Guerrero, whose country lies on the South American Pacific coast, said countries from all over the world are interested in what is happening in the Pacific.

“We live in an interconnected world, and what happens in one part of the world affects another. And it is clear, at least to me and my leaders, that global security and our future prosperity are inextricably linked to the Indo-Pacific region.”

But while countries from across the region have been invited, China is conspicuously absent. The Chinese Navy participated in RIMPAC as an invited guest in both 2014 and 2016, but was not invited in 2018 due to tensions with neighboring countries over maritime territorial and navigation rights.

Beijing claims the entire South China Sea, a busy waterway through which more than a third of all international trade passes, as its exclusive territory. The Chinese military has set up bases on disputed islands, reefs and atolls to assert its claims and has attacked ships from other countries.

Tensions are boiling over between China and the Philippines. This month, Chinese coast guardsmen rammed and boarded Philippine naval boats delivering supplies to an outpost in disputed territory. A Philippine marine lost a finger in the clash. As tensions escalated, the Philippines reduced its planned RIMPAC contribution to keep more troops ready for deployment in disputed waters.

“China was not invited this year only because it refuses to comply with international rules, norms and standards,” Wade said.

Chinese forces have recently stepped up operations around Taiwan, a self-governing island democracy that Beijing considers a rogue province. Taiwanese voters recently elected Lai Ching-te as their new president. In his inaugural speech in May, Lai said: “I hope China will face the reality of (Taiwan’s) existence, respect the choices of the Taiwanese people, and choose dialogue over confrontation in good faith.”

Officially, the United States has not recognized Taiwan diplomatically since the normalization of relations with the People’s Republic of China in 1979. However, the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 maintained de facto relations and requires the United States to “resist any use of force or other forms of coercion that would endanger the security or social or economic system of the people of Taiwan.”

Several activist groups, which have joined together to form the International Cancel RIMPAC Coalition, accuse the United States and other participants in the exercise of stoking tensions and China of resisting their aggression. They will hold events in Hawaii and San Diego throughout RIMPAC to condemn the exercise.

In a press release on Wednesday, the coalition said its members were “deeply concerned about the strengthening of military alliances between the United States and the Philippines, Japan, Taiwan, the Republic of Korea and other countries in the Indo-Pacific, as well as their allies in NATO, in support of the United States’ aggressive attempts to contain and isolate China.”

Taiwanese journalists made up a large portion of the media at the RIMPAC press conference. Many had questions about whether the American military would intervene to protect Taiwan from a Chinese attack. Wade skillfully navigated the delicate political scene, and above all recommended that they contact other US government agencies.

“We are not focused on any one country, whether it’s China or Taiwan,” Wade said. “We all have a common interest in being prepared for natural disasters and being able to respond and prevent aggression. And then when aggression does occur, we can address it based on national policy and whatever you want to do.”