U.S. kicks China out of military exercise
The United States has revoked an invitation to China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy to participate in a naval exercise, the Pentagon announced Wednesday, citing Beijing’s destabilizing moves in the South China Sea — including deploying weapons and other military equipment on contested islands and artificial reefs.
China announced in January that it had accepted a U.S. invitation to participate in the biennial Rim of the Pacific exercise, the world’s largest international maritime wargame.
The PLA Navy contributed five ships to the last one, in 2016, which included the militaries of 26 nations. China first participated in 2014, when it sent four ships along with an uninvited spy ship that skirted the exercise area.
“As an initial response to China’s continued militarization of the South China Sea we have disinvited the PLA Navy from the 2018 Rim of the Pacific,” Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Logan of the Marine Corps said in a statement.
