Christopher P. Cavas
WASHINGTON — A five-ship Chinese naval squadron shoved off from a port in Zhejiang Province Wednesday, headed for a rendezvous with US Navy warships in the western Pacific and another round of international Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises around Hawaii.
The Chinese also took part in the 2014 exercises, when four invited People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) participants were joined by an uninvited PLAN intelligence ship.
RIMPAC, billed as the world’s largest naval exercises, takes place every other year.
That the Chinese will return to Pearl Harbor rankles some observers who believe they should be disinvited because of their island-building activities in the South China Sea. But the US government and Navy have steadfastly kept out the welcome mat for the Chinese — and Adm. John Richardson, chief of naval operations, will visit China during the exercises before he heads to Pearl Harbor.
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