Taiwan navy could join Rim of the Pacific Exercise from next year under a defense policy bill for the fiscal year 2022 passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.
Earlier this week the lower chamber of the US Congress voted overwhelmingly in support of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which defines the country's defense policy and budget, according to Radio Free Asia.
Further, the bill suggests "conducting practical training and military exercises with Taiwan, including, as appropriate, inviting Taiwan to participate in the Rim of the Pacific exercise conducted in 2022" in order to support the development of Taiwan's defense forces.
The NDAA bill still needs to be passed by the Senate before getting an approval from President Joe Biden's desk.
"It will depend on Biden to decide whether inviting Taiwan to joint exercise is worth his political capital," said Richard Bitzinger, senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore.
"At the moment, I think the chance is 50/50 that an invitation would be granted," he added.
Further, RIMPAC is the world's largest multi-national maritime warfare exercise held every two years since 1974. Before that it was held annually. The exercise is hosted by the U.S. Navy's Indo-Pacific Command and joined by navies from dozens of countries. China took part in 2014 and 2016.
"Taiwan attending RIMPAC would be very important politically as a sign of support by the U.S. and other attending nations," said Grant Newsham, a retired U.S. Marine colonel who spent 2019 in Taiwan to research the island's defense.
"If the Americans do not help Taiwan's armed forces break out of over 40 years of isolation and give them the opportunity to train with somebody, Taiwan's defense capabilities will not improve as they need to improve," he added. .
Until now, the U.S. military hasn't conducted any bilateral and joint exercise with Taiwan but it was reported in October that a number of U.S. military trainers have been deployed in the island for at least a year, according to Radio Free Asia.
Rim of the Pacific Exercise, is the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise. RIMPAC is held biennially.The first RIMPAC, held in 1971,
( With inputs from ANI )
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