The world’s largest naval war exercises in Hawaii are not only about deterrence.

Welcome to VOA Asia Weekly. I'm Chris Casquejo in Washington. That story is just ahead, but first, making headlines:

Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration on Wednesday called on China to release a Taiwanese fishing boat and its crew after the Chinese coast guard seized it late Tuesday. Taiwan’s coast guard says the boat was intercepted near the Kinmen islands, located just a few kilometers off the southern Chinese coast.

11 people were killed in floods after torrential rains fell across northeast India and neighboring Bangladesh. More than 1.3 million people have been affected by floods in Bangladesh, according to a government source.

Authorities arrested six people in connection with a deadly stampede at a religious festival on Tuesday in northern India. At least 121 people died. A preliminary police report found that around 250,000 people had been crowded into the tent, far exceeding the limit of 80,000 mandated by local officials.

A Malaysian court dismissed former prime minister Najib Razak’s bid to serve the rest of his corruption case sentence under house arrest. It comes after public outcry against the Pardons Board for reducing Razak’s 12-year jail sentence to 6 years. Razak was found guilty of illegally receiving money from a state fund in 2020.

The Vatican’s top diplomat, Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, met with Philippines Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo in Manila on Tuesday. The two envoys discussed developments in the South China Sea and potential areas of cooperation with the Holy See.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader pressed their case on Thursday for closer security, political and economic cooperation among countries of the vast Eurasian region. Putin and Xi met at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, seen by Moscow and Beijing as an instrument to counter the influence of the United States and its allies.

The world’s largest naval war exercise off the shores of Hawaii is taking place over the next few weeks with the U.S. and 28 partner nations. Known as Rim of the Pacific, or RIMPAC, analysts say this year’s exercises give partners a chance to work together while sending a strong deterrence message to China. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb has details.

International cooperation on a scale like no other. Forty surface ships, more than 150 aircraft, three submarines and 25,000 people — together in the Pacific Ocean for this year’s RIMPAC.

Nations from across the globe are practicing a wide range of missions, from natural disaster response to attack skills needed for war.

“Every nation in the world that has interests in the Pacific and will adhere to the same values is more than welcome to participate.”

One country not invited: China. Because analysts say the warm welcome RIMPAC gave to China about a decade ago backfired.

“There was this outreach to China, and definitely the U.S. and its allies and partners were essentially burned by the Chinese taking advantage of it — but not really taking advantage of in a way to positively shape their behavior and cooperate, but took advantage of it as an opportunity to essentially to collect intelligence and to try and get more acceptance of what should be considered unacceptable behavior.”

Now, officials say the biennial exercise sends a strong message to China to stop bullying its neighbors.

“They're not just going to be facing the United States in the country they're targeting, but they're potentially going to have to deal with a response from a wide range of countries that have common interests in deterring and confronting Chinese aggression as threats to a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

RIMPAC nations this year will practice targeting the decommissioned assault ship USS Tarawa, in a rare chance to learn how effective their weapons are at sinking a large and protected adversary in open waters.

The weeks long exercise is set to end in early August.

Carla Babb, VOA News, the Pentagon.

Visit voanews.com for the most up-to-date stories.

I’m Chris Casquejo.

Finally, Japan issued new currency on Wednesday for the first time in 20 years.

The new bills feature a redesign which includes large print for easier reading and 3-D hologram technology to fight counterfeiting. The currency already in use will still be in circulation.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo praised the new yen bills as “historic.”

Thanks for watching VOA Asia Weekly.