The Pentagon disinvited China from participating in a major naval exercise on Wednesday, signaling mounting U.S. anger over Beijing’s expanded military footprint in disputed areas of the South China Sea. “China’s militarization of the South China Sea deserves to be penalized, not rewarded,” he said. The Pentagon’s decision may presage a harder line than the Trump administration has previously taken on the South China Sea dispute. “We have called on China to remove the military systems immediately and to reverse course on the militarization of disputed South China Sea features,” Logan said. Cronin said the decision was unlikely to alter China’s plans for the South China Sea.

Source: Washington Post May 23, 2018 16:32 UTC