Armada ke-3 AS Pimpin Parade Militer di Perairan Pasifik, Mimpi Buruk bagi China?
China`s Worst Nightmare: The Enormous US-led Naval Fleet which is Patrolling the Pacific
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
HAMPIR 50 kapal perang dan kapal selam, 200 pesawat tempur dan 25.000 personel dari 26 negara berkumpul di Samudra Pasifik untuk parade kekuatan militer laut - dan termasuk angkatan laut China.
Kombinasi kekuatan militer di samudera bergabung dalam RIMPAC, latihan multinasional pimpinan AS digelar di perairan Hawaii setiap dua tahun sejak 1971 untuk membina kerjasama angkatan laut di kawasan Pasifik.
Namun karena ketegangan atas laut Cina selatan meletus dalam beberapa hari terakhir, parade militer juga dilaporkan diikuti kontingen dari China setelah tahun lalu dipanggil untuk mengikuti latihan militer bersama.
Parade kekuatan lalut tersebut dipimpin Komandan, Armada Pasifik AS (PACFLT), dan dilaksanakan oleh Komandan, Armada ke-3 Armada AS, kata Angkatan Laut AS.
Latihan tahun ini, seri ke-25, mengikutsertakan unit atau personil dari Australia, Brunei, Kanada, Chili, Kolombia, Denmark, Prancis, Jerman, India, Indonesia, Italia, Jepang, Malaysia, Meksiko, Belanda, Selandia Baru, Norwegia, Peru, Republik Korea, Republik Filipina, Singapura, Thailand, Tonga, Inggris dan Amerika Serikat.
Namun juga melibatkan China.
Armada ke-3 AS melakukan latihan intensif dengan kontingen RIMPAC dari China selama pelayaran transit dari China ke wilayah latihan di Hawaii. Situs The Diplomat melaporkan, kolaborasi latihan milter membuat skenario latihan tentang penyelamatan pelaut dari kapal selam yang dilumpuhkan musuh serta prosedur mengatasi aksi perompakan di laut, menyelam dan penyelamatan darurat, dan pencarian maupun penyelamatan.
Latihan The RIMPAC selama lima pekan diikuti interaksi 'kekuatan penuh' antara angkatan laut AS dan China sejak AS memulai operasi Freedom of Navigation dekat pangkalan militer China hasil reklamasi di Laut Cina Selatan China, kata situs The Diplomat.
Komandan Armada Pasifik AS Laksamana Scott Swift mengatakan kepada situs The Diplomat bahwa tujuan latihan militer membantu negara peserta membina hubungan kerja sama dan menerapkan 'norma, standar, aturan, dan undang-undang yang telah menciptakan stabilitas dan keamanan, pondasi mencapai kesejahteraan, dapat menikmati keamanan perairan selama 70 tahun terakhir."
Formasi parade militer ditunjukkan dalam sebuah video yang diunggah oleh RIMPAC.
Angkatan Laut AS mengatakan dalam sebuah pernyataan: 'RIMPAC adalah latihan militer yang unik yang membantu peserta membina dan mempertahankan hubungan kerjasama yang sangat penting untuk menjamin keamanan jalur laut dan keamanan di perairan di dunia.'
Latihan juga menjadi penting setelah Australia mendorong penyelesaian konflik atas klaim China di kawasan perairan Cina Selatan setelah didukung putusan di Pengadilan Tetap Arbitrase di Den Haag bahwa Cina tidak memiliki klaim bersejarah atas perairan dan telah melanggar 'hak ekonomi dan berdaulat' dari Filipina.
Sebuah surat kabar yang dikelola pemerintah China, Global Times, menuding Australia sebagai 'kucing kertas' 'dan mengatakan negara itu akan menjadi' target ideal bagi China untuk memperingatkan dan menyerang 'jika memasuki perairan yang disengketakan.
Laut Cina Selatan dianggap sebagai jalur pelayaran internasional yang penting di mana lebih dari perdagangan dunia bernilai $5 triliun perdagangan bergerak setiap tahun tetapi beberapa negara termasuk China, Vietnam, Filipina, Taiwan, Malaysia dan Brunei memiliki klaim atas kawasan yang sama, seperti dilansir MailOnline.
ALMOST 50 ships and submarines, 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel from 26 nations have gathered in the Pacific Ocean for a huge display of military power - and it even included China.
A peaceful yet intimidating combination of force joined together for RIMPAC, a US-led multinational training exercise held in waters off Hawaii every two years since 1971 to foster cooperative naval relationships.
But as tensions over the south China sea erupted in recent days, the display also reportedly included a contingent from China after calls last year to disinvite the country from being involved in the exercises.
The display is held by Commander, US Pacific Fleet (PACFLT), and executed by Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet (C3F), the US Navy said.
This year's exercise, the 25th in the series, includes units or personnel from Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, the United Kingdom and the United States.
But there was also involvement from China.
The US conducted exclusive drills with the Chinese RIMPAC contingent during its transit from China to the Hawaii exercise area, The Diplomat website reported, collaborating in exercises to rescue sailors from a disabled submarine as well as procedures involving counter piracy, diving and salvage, and search and rescue.
The RIMPAC exercises over five weeks followed 'increasingly fraught' interactions between the US and Chinese navies since the US began Freedom of Navigation operations near China’s reclaimed South China Sea bases last year, the website said.
US Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Scott Swift told the website the exercise helped participants cement a cooperative relationship and 'the norms, standards, rules, and laws that have provided the great stability and security, the foundation for prosperity, that we all enjoy the last 70 years.'
The huge formation is shown in a video uploaded by RIMPAC.
The US Navy said in a statement: 'RIMPAC is a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain the cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans.'
The gathering comes as Australia been thrust into the centre of the debate over China's claims to the South China sea after it backed a ruling in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that China had no historic claim to the waters and it had violated the Philippines' economic and sovereign rights.
A Chinese state-run newspaper, the Global Times, labelled Australia a 'paper cat' and said the country would be an 'ideal target for China to warn and strike' if it entered the contested waters.
The South China Sea is considered an important international shipping route where more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually but several countries including China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei have competing claims.
