Petition call to cancel RIMPAC and build a Pacific Zone of Peace

2022 Rim of the Pacific War Exercises

The following is a petition initiated by the Pacific Peace Network which has been taken up by peace activist organizations across the Pacific region.

2022 Rim of the Pacific war exercises

U.S.-led war preparations in Asia Pacific and Canada’s participation!

The 2022 edition of the U.S.-led war exercises Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) is taking place from June 29 to August 4 in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California. The U.S. Navy says the aim of the war exercises is for “a network of capable, adaptive partners [to] train and operate together in order to strengthen their collective forces and promote a free and open Indo-Pacific. RIMPAC 2022 contributes to the increased interoperability, resiliency and agility needed by the Joint and Combined Force to deter and defeat aggression by major powers across all domains and levels of conflict.”

Another case of China using sea to hide its submarines

2015 claim

ON September 13, the US Naval Institute’s Proceedings published a hair-raising account from its Malaysian correspondent of a submerged submarine “believed to be Chinese” off the coast of Japan.

“The Japanese Ministry of Defense detected a Chinese submarine operating in the contiguous zone of Japan’s southern islands, they announced in a Sept. 12 press release, and the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) air and naval units are maintaining surveillance on the submarine.”

Fiji sings

For a moment, hierarchies (historical, economic, political) are turned upside down. It is a brief glimpse of the day when the last shall be first | A Reflection by Tony Seed

Jerry Tuwai, captain of Team Fiji, sings on the podium with his team mates after receiving their gold medals following victory in the Rugby Sevens Men’s Gold Medal match between New Zealand and Fiji on day five of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Tokyo Stadium on July 28, 2021 in Chofu, Tokyo, Japan | Dan Mullan/Getty Images

(August 3) – You must be watching the Olympics. Did you chance to watch any of the Rugby Sevens matches?

US-NATO’s drive into Asia

ASIAN NATO CONCEPT FLAG | Pnyxblog

A global military bloc | RICK ROZOFF

(January 29, 2009) – With the sixtieth anniversary summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to occur jointly in the French city of Strasbourg and and the German one of Kehl on April 3-4, the world should take note of how far from its original area of operations this, history’s first international military bloc has expanded in the interim since its creation in 1949.

For your information: Government of Canada backgrounder – Defence relations in Asia-Pacific

The Government of Canada describes its defence relations with the “Asia-Pacific Region” as follows:

“As a Pacific country, Canada considers its relations with its Asia-Pacific neighbours a priority. Canadian security and prosperity are linked to the vitality of Asia’s economy and the stability of the region. In support of this agenda, the Department of National Defence (DND) and Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) are committed to strengthening peace and security in the region and enhancing their engagement in Asia-Pacific.”

The Government claims that its involvement ranges “(f)rom our commitment of resources towards humanitarian and relief efforts following Typhoon Haiyan, to our participation in regional military exercises and high-level defence fora,” and that it is “proud of the steps that we have taken in recent years to bolster defence relations and increase cooperation with Canada’s partners in the Asia-Pacific region.”

The backgrounder describes Canada’s multilateral defence relations and regional military exercises as follows: