Washington Examiner
Joel Gehrke
May 25, 2018 02:51 PM
[excerpt]
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/china-faces-ban-from-joint-war-games-in-pacific-rimChina faces a practically-permanent ban from participating in major U.S.-led military drills in the Pacific Rim, under a provision of the newly-released Senate defense authorization bill.
“We do military exercises with our friends, not our potential adversaries,†Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, the author of the amendment to the latest National Defense Authorization Act, said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis disinvited China from the 2018 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) naval exercises, a major drill conducted largely between U.S. allies, in response to China’s deployment of military systems to strategically-significant islands in the South China Sea. Cruz’s bill makes the ban permanent, unless China abandons its claim to sovereignty over the vital shipping lanes. The proposal is just one example of lawmakers using the defense bill to take aim at China, in light of a growing perception of the leading Asian power as an American rival.
