The United States (US) has scratched out China from the list of participants in the 2018 Rim of the Pacific (RimPac) Exercise, the world’s largest international maritime warfare drill, due to the latter’s aggressive military build-up and its recent deployment of bombers on the islands and reefs of South China Sea.
“As an initial response to China’s continued militarization of the South China Sea we have disinvited the Navy from the 2018 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise,” Pentagon spokesman, Lt. Col. Christopher Logan said in a statement.
Logan also said that these actions of China is “a violation of the promise that President Xi made to the United States and the World not to militarize the Spratly Islands.”
He added, “We have strong evidence that China has deployed anti-ship missiles, surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems, and electronic jammers to contested features in the Spratly Islands region of the South China Sea. China’s landing of [H-6K] bomber aircraft at Woody Island has also raised tensions.”
Furthermore, he said, “China’s continued militarization of disputed features in the South China Sea only serve to raise tensions and destabilize the region.”
DAILY NEWS ROUND UP FOR 05/ 24 /18