PLA navy to join US-led Rimpac exercise for first time

The PLA has accepted an invitation to participate for the first time in a major US-hosted naval drill, but legal restrictions will limit its role to less sensitive exercises like disaster relief, US officials say.

Beijing's agreement to join the drills being held next year comes at a moment of heightened tensions between China and US ally Japan over the disputed Diaoyu - or Senkaku - Islands, and unease in the US about China's military build-up and its cyber capabilities.

The Rim of the Pacific exercise, known as Rimpac, is billed as the world's largest international maritime exercise, with 22 nations and more than 40 ships and submarines participating the last time it was held off Hawaii last year.

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