On July 13, my country's Southern Theater Command announced that on that day, the US guided missile destroyer USS Benford illegally intruded into China's Xisha territorial waters without the approval of the Chinese government. Our military immediately organized naval and air forces to warn and drive it away. Finally, the country’s territorial sovereignty was defended.
Colonel Tian Junli, spokesman for the Southern Theater Command, pointed out that the US military’s actions seriously violated China’s sovereignty and security and were another ironclad evidence of its militarization of the South China Sea. According to reports, this is the second time this year that the US Navy has broken into the territorial waters of Xisha Islands, and the People's Liberation Army is always on alert.
The behavior of the US military is extremely unprofessional. Illegal intrusion into the territorial waters of a sovereign country is a serious provocation no matter when and where. The People's Liberation Army can take any necessary measures against foreign warships that trespass into the territorial waters of the Xisha Islands, and the United States must bear all responsibilities.
On the other hand, the provocative behavior of the US Navy is likely to lead to miscalculation and may draw the two countries into conflict. Due to the United States' continuous provocations in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait, Sino-US relations have been very tense in recent years. It was previously expected that the Taiwan Strait might become a flashpoint in the Sino-US conflict.
In order to ease tensions and avoid the outbreak of large-scale conflicts, China and the United States have held many talks before. On July 10, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a meeting with US Secretary of State John Blinken, during which China clearly drew a red line.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi pointed out that since the United States does not want to conflict with China, it should respect China's sovereignty and stop interfering in China's internal affairs. Before the talks began, the U.S. government also called for guardrails to be set up for Sino-U.S. relations, saying miscalculations should be avoided.
However, the U.S. government said one thing and did another. It said it wanted to avoid miscalculations between China and the United States, but it sailed its warships into China's Xisha territorial waters and challenged China's bottom line. This shows that the United States has no intention of easing relations with China and has no sincerity at all.
The reason why the United States provoked in Xisha was first to test China's reaction and then formulate relevant countermeasures. Although the United States is still the world's number one military power, China's navy has grown rapidly in recent years and is continuously narrowing the gap with the United States.
Some time ago, China’s third aircraft carrier was officially launched, named Fujian. The Fujian ship is the second domestically produced aircraft carrier independently developed by my country, with a displacement of more than 80,000 tons, directly catching up with the retired USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier , and second only to the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
The most important thing is that the Fujian ship is equipped with the electromagnetic catapult . This technology was unique to the United States before, but Chinese researchers have once again proved that what the United States has now, we can also develop in the future, and it will not be worse than the United States.
The growth of China’s military power has long aroused the vigilance of the United States. In the eyes of American politicians, China and Russia have become the United States’ biggest “competitors.” Therefore, the United States hopes to know more about the strength of the Chinese navy, otherwise they will have no sense of security.
In addition, the United States has sent warships to the South China Sea to flex its muscles to the countries surrounding the South China Sea and to win over neighboring countries to contain China. China almost always has territorial disputes with the countries surrounding the South China Sea, but the conflicts between the two sides have eased in recent years.
This situation is something the United States does not want to see. For the United States, a peaceful and stable South China Sea is not in its own interests, and then they will not be able to fish in troubled waters. Among the countries in the South China Sea, the Philippines and Vietnam are all targets of wooing by the United States.
Recently, US Secretary of State Blinken issued a statement, actually criticizing China, demanding that China abide by international law and stop its so-called "provocative behavior" in the South China Sea. Blinken also pledged to the Philippines that the United States would provide asylum if the country was attacked.
Therefore, the United States is completely worried about the world being in chaos, but the countries surrounding the South China Sea will also make judgments and will not be led by the United States. In the past few years, China-Philippines relations have maintained steady development, and the Philippines has basically been able to remain neutral.
Although Duterte has stepped down, the new president of the Philippines, Marcos, still regards China as a partner and hopes to continue to cooperate with China. If the United States stirs up trouble in the South China Sea, it will only suffer the disgust of neighboring countries.
In the future, the People's Liberation Army will continue to improve its own strength, and it needs to be tough on itself, because it is difficult for us to predict the next move of the United States. In order to defend the country's territorial sovereignty, we must take precautions.
