*BEIJING:* The Pentagon has said that a Chinese spy ship is currentlyspying on a major US-led military exercise off the coast of Hawaii, thesame exercise it was disinvited due to Washington’s opposition to Beijing’smilitarisation in the South China Sea.
“The US Pacific Fleet has been monitoring a Chinese navy surveillance shipoperating in the vicinity of Hawaii outside US territorial seas,” CNNquoted Navy Capt. Charles Brown, a spokesman for US Pacific Fleet, assaying on Friday.
“We expect this ship will remain outside of US territorial seas and notoperate in a manner that disrupts the ongoing Rim of the Pacific maritimeexercise.”
China was disinvited from the exercise, known as RIMPAC, in May over whatthe Pentagon called Beijing’s “continued militarisation of disputedfeatures in the South China Sea”, including the deployment of anti-shipmissiles, surface-to-air missile systems and electronic jammers.
The spy ship arrived in the waters off Hawaii on July 11, and it has notentered the territorial seas of the US, an American military official toldCNN.
The official said a similar Russian spy ship was in the same area the lasttime RIMPAC took place in 2016. China participated in the exercise thatyear.
China also sent spy ships, known as Auxiliary General Intelligence vessels,to monitor the exercise in 2014 and 2016.