China’s Defense Ministry confirmed today that they will send warships to Hawaii this summer to take part in RIMPAC, the world’s largest naval exercises, held every two years by the US. China also participated in the drill back in 2014.
RIMPAC usually confirms nations who aren’t formal US treaty allies, but some hawks, particularly Sen. John McCain (R – AZ), sought to have China banned this time around because the US is supposed to be mad at them for building islands in the South China Sea.
The scope of China’s involvement isn’t clear at any rate, with the defense ministry saying they would send warships, but not indicating how many or which ones, meaning it could be another token involvement, as with the 2014 deployment which strictly participated in search-and-rescue operations.
Addressing the South China Sea disputes, Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian suggested that China’s view toward the US isn’t rosy either, and that the nation is irked by US naval reconnaissance, along with its ongoing arms sales to Taiwan.