Washington (CNN) The US has withdrawn an invitation to China to participate in what has been described as the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. A Pentagon spokesman said in a statement that "China's behavior is inconsistent with the principles and purposes of the RIMPAC exercise," and it has "disinvited the PLA Navy from the 2018 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise." Held every two years and based in Hawaii, the RIMPAC exercise involves more than 20 countries from across the world, including Australia, India, Japan and the United Kingdom. The decision to withdraw China's invitation was made by Defense Secretary James Mattis in coordination with the White House, according to a US official, after Beijing's recent deployment of missile systems and the first landing of a Chinese bomber on an island in the South China Sea. The same defense official told CNN that the US has its own imagery showing China's deployment of anti-ship missiles, surface-to-air missiles and jammers on disputed islands.

Source: CNN May 23, 2018 16:35 UTC