'Making friends, not war': PLA warships to join US-led naval drills for the first time

The US Navy has dispatched numerous ships to Hawaii as it prepares for Rim of the Pacific 2014, the world's largest international maritime exercise. It will involve 49 surface ships and six submarines from 23 countries, but the inclusion of China will get an inordinate amount of attention.

The People's Liberation Army will participate in the exercise for the first time, sending ships that include the missile destroyer Haikou, the missile frigate Yueyang, the oiler Qiandaohu and the hospital ship Peace Ark.

The Chinese were invited to join two years ago by Admiral Samuel Locklear, the chief of US Pacific Command, and will do so now as President Xi Jinping pushes an overhaul and expansion of the military.

But the engagement, which starts tomorrow, comes at an awkward time following a series of controversial moves by China within the last year.

That could complicate an already highly unusual level of engagement between China, the United States and its allies at Rimpac, even if senior military officials in China and the US have had discussions for years.