China to pursue naval exercises in the Pacific

Beijing said Wednesday it will go ahead with regular annual naval exercises in the Western Pacific this month, Reuters reported. The Chinese Defense Ministry emphasized that the drills were annual, planned and routine, and not “directed at any specific country or target”; however, the drill could be a reaction to US plans, announced one week ago, to base 2,500 US Marines, war planes and navy ships in northern Australia. Since early Tuesday, six Chinese naval ships crossed into the Pacific between two major Okinawa Prefecture islands in southern Japan, the Japanese Defense Ministry said. China has had several minor run-ins at sea with Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines over the past year, especially in the South China Sea, a disputed body of water traversed by key shipping lanes that carry some US$5 trillion in world trade per year and could have significant natural resource deposits.