US, UK join Pacific allies in Fijian military exercise

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A military exercise in Fiji involving the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand ends this week as the traditional allies counter China’s growing influence in the region. The U.S. Embassy in Fiji says the 11-day Exercise Cartwheel began on Sept. 12 and ends on Friday. U.S. Navy Cmdr. Victor Lange says the name of the exercise originates from Operation Cartwheel during World War II in which the U.S. fought alongside the militaries of Australia, New Zealand and Fiji — then a  British colony — to neutralize the Japanese base at Rabaul in Papua New Guinea.