(Corrects name to Micronesia, not Melanesian, in paragraph 5)

By Kirsty Needham

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Five Chinese research vessels, including ships used for space and missile tracking and underwater mapping, were active in the northwest Pacific last month, as the United States stepped up military exercises, data from a Guam-based group shows.

Rapid militarisation in the northern Pacific gets insufficient attention, says the Pacific Center for Island Security, adding that it makes island populations a potential target in any great-power conflict.

“If you look at the number of U.S. and bilateral and multilateral exercises, there is a lot of activity,” Leland Bettis, the director of the group that seeks to flag regional security risks, said in an interview.

“Is the fact that the Chinese are

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