By: www.kuwaittimes.net
RAYONG: The US military began its largest war games in the Pacific region yesterday-an annual training exercise with troops from Thailand, Japan, Indonesia and Singapore, now joined by South Korea. At the opening ceremony in the eastern Thai province of Rayong, US Ambassador Eric G John said that the "Cobra Gold" exercise, now in its 29th year, had become a "multinational showcase event". "The US continues to view this exercise, which is our premier training event in Thailand, as an important symbol of US
military commitment to maintaining peace and security in Asia," he told the audience.
John welcomed South Korea's participation in the event, which runs until February 11 and will see soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen from the six countries taking part in operations across Thailand. He said the focus of the exercise was on joint peacekeeping operations and humanitarian and disaster responses, for which it offered "unparalleled" preparation, citing the 2004 tsunami relief operation as an example. "It's imperative that our separate militaries learn to work with each other-together-and reh
earse for the day their services are needed to answer that call for help," he said.
As Cobra Gold is the US military's largest exercise in the Pacific region-and indeed, the largest exercise of its kind in Asia-we welcome the contributions of all the nations who will participate in the coming days," he said. In total representatives from more than 20 countries will participate, observe or support, he added. Thailand and the United States are long-time allies, but a large sum of US military assistance to the Southeast Asian nation was suspended after a Thai coup in 2006. The aid was resum
ed after elections in December 2007.
Meanwhile, China's state media accused Washington yesterday of "arrogance" and "double standards" in going ahead with arms sales to Taiwan, saying Beijing's threat to penalize US companies over the deal was very real. The Pentagon sparked the latest challenge to Sino-US ties under President Barack Obama when it approved the 6.4-billion-dollar sale to Taiwan of Patriot missiles, Black Hawk helicopters, mine-hunting ships and other weaponry.
China responded furiously, saying it would suspend military and security contacts with Washington and impose sanctions on US companies involved in the deal. Beijing, which considers Taiwan part of its territory, also warned of "serious harm" to relations. The state-run China Daily and the Global Times accused Obama of being insincere when he said during a visit in November that he did not seek to "contain" China.
China's response, no matter how vehement, is justified," the China Daily said, adding the US move "exposes the US's usage of double standards and hypocrisy on major issues related to China's core interests". "Washington's arrogance also reflects the stark reality of how a nation's interests could be trampled upon by another," it said. In an official diplomatic protest, China said the row would endanger cooperation with the United States on "key international and regional issues." It did not elaborate, but
the comment comes as Washington seeks Beijing's help in curbing the nuclear programs of Iran and China's ally North Korea.
China has repeatedly rejected tougher sanctions on Iran, stressing diplomacy as the only way to resolve the long-running dispute. But in the context of the Taiwan deal, the Global Times said sanctions "can be an effective alternative to other hardline measures to deal with a diplomatic dispute". "It's time the US was made to feel the heat for the continuing arms sales to Taiwan," said the newspaper, which is run by the People's Daily, the Communist Party's propaganda mouthpiece. "It would be folly to under
estimate Chinese unity over the Taiwan question. Punishing companies that sell weapons to Taiwan is a move that would be supported by most Chinese," it said. - Agencies
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