One World – One Order: Beijing, Washington to hold joint Naval Drills

May 2016 – GEOPOLITICS – Despite South China Sea territorial disputes exacerbating diplomatic disagreements between Beijing and Washington, the Chinese navy will participate in a series of US-initiated maritime drills this summer that are said to be the world’s largest. On Friday, US Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin announced that China would take part in the biannual Washington-led Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises, to be held off the Hawaii coast in June and July.
China has taken part in previous RIMPAC drills, but an ongoing territorial dispute in the South China Sea led to a deterioration of cooperation between the two countries. ‘The PLAN (People’s Liberation Army Navy) will participate in an exercise, the largest exercise that we do, in a couple of months,’ Aucoin said to journalists at a news conference in Shanghai. Earlier in March, the US suggested that they may ‘reassess’ the participation of Beijing in the upcoming drills.

This post was published at UtopiatheCollapse on May 7, 2016.