US disinvites China from Pacific military exercises

WASHINGTON: The United States has disinvited China from participating in annual maritime exercises in the Pacific because of its “continued militarization” of the South China Sea, the Pentagon said Wednesday. “China’s continued militarization of disputed features in the South China Sea only serve to raise tensions and destabilize the region,” Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Chris Logan said. “We have disinvited the PLA Navy from the 2018 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise. China’s behavior is inconsistent with the principles and purposes of the RIMPAC exercise.”