Beijing has been invited to participate in a major US-led naval exercise, Chinese officials said on Thursday, despite tensions between Beijing and Washington over activity in the disputed South China Sea. The Chinese military took part in the RIMPAC drill, billed as the world’s largest international naval exercise, for the first time in 2014 and again in 2016. “We have received the American invitation,” Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said, adding that a delegation has been sent to the US to discuss logistics. RIMPAC, or Rim of the Pacific Exercise, is held off Hawaii every other year in June and July.