MSM Silent As Senior Chinese Military Official Threatens U.S Navy Vessels In China Sea; U.S. Air Force Runs Drills; Trade Talks Continue
By Aaron Kesel
A senior Chinese military official, Dai Xu (戴旭), has threatened U.S. Navy vessels in the South China Sea, recommending that China should attack the ships. Meanwhile, the U.S. Air Force also ran an annual "joint forcible entry drill" in the night skies over the U.S. on Sunday, one day after the comments.
Tensions continue rising between the U.S., its allies and nations on the Eastern part of the hemisphere. The verbose comments were made at an event by Chinese tabloid Global Times who hosted a conference in Beijing, on Saturday, Dec. 8th.
Xu recommended aggressive action against the U.S. if it "breaks into Chinese waters again" stating the following: "If the U.S. warships break into Chinese waters again, I suggest that two warships should be sent: one to stop it, and another one to ram it… In our territorial waters, we won't allow US warships to create disturbance," Taiwan News reported.
Over the past few weeks, several events have elevated the U.S. geopolitical tension with China, which since the Obama administration has been in turmoil after failed diplomatic discussions. It all started in 2012 when China and the Philippines engaged in a lengthy maritime feud which resulted in rejections of the verdict by China in 2016, increasing the chances of potential conflict in the region.
In 2016, an arbitration court ruled that China had(s) no historic title over the waters of the South China Sea and that it in doing so breached the Philippines’ sovereign rights with its actions.
China reacted by boycotting the proceedings, rejecting them and stating that the ruling was “ill-founded.”
Last year, China announced the creation of two Chinese-controlled international maritime courts that would be used to provide China’s interpretation of maritime law, Epoch Times reported.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte responded by stating that the man-made islands aren’t pointed at them.
“It’s not intended for us. The contending ideological powers of the world or the geopolitics has greatly changed. It’s really intended against those who the Chinese think would destroy them and that is America,” Duterte noted. “We did nothing.”
The Philippines also announced earlier this year possible discussions for joint South China Sea projects, which may have been an attempt at the time to ease the tension, Japan Times reported.
China insists that it has “historic rights” over the region which the countries dispute.
For centuries various countries have fought over the territory in the South China Sea – two specific island chains known as Paracels and the Spratlys – and fought over areas alongside the sandbanks and reefs, such as the Scarborough Shoal (known as Huangyan Island in China). These waters are a main import and export point that allows the passing of five trillions of dollars worth of global trade flow annually through the waters, according to Forbes.
“It’s a question of if those islands are in fact in international waters and not part of China proper, then yeah, we’re going to make sure that we defend international territories from being taken over by one country,” former White House press secretary Sean Former Press Secretary, Spicer said.
China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Brunei all have laid competing claims to the area.
Beijing states its right to the area goes back centuries to when the Paracel and Spratly island chains were regarded as integral parts of the Chinese nation. In 1947 the Communist nation issued a map detailing its claims.
However, in the past few years, China has begun building man-made islands that many countries and U.S. officials have disputed as being military bases.
Last year, former Secretary Of State Rex Tillerson during his confirmation hearing attacked China for “declaring control of territories that are not rightfully China’s,” comparing China’s deployment of its military to other islands, to Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
“The island building in the South China Sea itself in many respects in my view building islands then putting military assets on those islands is a kin to Russia’s taking of Crimea,” Tillerson stated.
China responded to Tillerson’s statement at the time telling the U.S. “speak and act cautiously” after the White House said it would act to foil Chinese attempts to “take over” the South China Sea.
Another key factor rising tensions is the U.S. recognizing Taiwan and encouraging to send senior officials to Taiwan to meet Taiwan counterparts under the Taiwan Travel Act, which detested China, Yahoo News reported.
This may be the red line drawn in the sand on U.S. and Chinese relations. The act, though not legally binding, is said to “severely violate” the One-China principle, as well as the three joint communiqués the US signed with the People’s Republic of China.
In comparison, Mike Pompeo the new Secretary of state has drawn a policy essentially that China is an enemy stating they are the "greatest challenge" in regards to a threat to the United States.
"Over the five, ten, twenty-five year time horizon, just by simple demographics and wealth, as well as by the internal system in that country, China presents the greatest challenge that the United States will face in the medium to long term,” Pompeo said, adding, "there is no doubt it’s an even bigger challenge than Russia," in an interview with radio host Hugh Hewit Monday.
The situation with China then erupted further with the issued U.S. tariffs and “trade restrictions” against the Chinese Republic. China then retaliated by issuing sanctions on steel and aluminum imports, as well as food imports and other U.S. products.
The trade war seemed to slow down and was headed towards a truce last week after a 90-day trade truce was reached on Saturday December 1st when Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met at the G-20 summit in Argentina.
That was until the Trump, administration arrested Meng Wanzhou, the Huawei chief financial officer who was arrested in Canada last week and is now facing extradition to the United States. On top of that, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened China on Twitter, calling himself "a Tariff Man," which ultimately dramatically escalated the stakes of the trade war.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1069962093301022720
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1069968462724980736
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1069970500535902208
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1069972093301862406
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1070110615627333632
However, despite the Trump administration's move to imprison and extradite Wanzhou reports indicate that momentum isn't slowing down among trade negotiators determined to reach a deal. The Chinese have until March 1st, according to Trump; if there is no deal at the end of the 90 days, the U.S. will then proceed to raise tariffs on US$200 billion worth of Chinese goods from 10 percent to an astoundingly wild 25 percent.
So far, so good, and Trump tweeted that since yesterday there have been "Very productive conversations going on with China!" Adding, "Watch for some important announcements!" But if discussions fail things could be sent spiraling out of control into a trade war that could be “the largest trade war in economic history to date,” as China's Ministry Of Commerce warned, and potential geopolitical moves could follow.
Then there is the separate situation between China's ally Russia and America's ally the Ukraine, where the U.S. without a doubt is supporting Ukraine with Pompeo arguing for sending weapons to the Ukrainian government. So it's no wonder the U.S. would be starting to ramp up its military drills. Just what we need, another time-bomb situation that could send us spiraling into war!
So it's no wonder that the U.S. recently has been running drills, including air drills over the U.S. with C-17s and C-130s, as The Drive reported. Activist Post reported that the U.S. also intends to sail battleships through the Black Sea, in defiance of Russia, for firing at a Ukraine ship last month.
It's worth noting earlier this year, one single day after signing the economic tariffs and China retaliating, the U.S. sent the USS Mustin destroyer within 12 nautical miles of the Chinese-claimed islands, which China warned off, Asia Times reported.
Last month, the U.S. quietly sent two naval vessels through the Taiwan Strait four days after the Taiwanese elections, with little coverage from the press, Taiwan News reported.
Right now it’s just the potential for a trade war, but things could escalate well past economic sanctions; and Beijing's state media has previously warned any attempt to prevent China accessing its interests in the region of the South China Sea could risk sparking a “large-scale war.”
It certainly looks like that's where we are heading as a report has stated "the Trump administration plans to escalate the U.S. trade war with China for its alleged involvement stealing American trade secrets and technology and hacking into government and corporate computers." A serious accusation to make combined with the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, and Trump stating he could intervene, which looks to be like a form of blackmail since his administration was responsible.
Of course, we are especially screwed if China decides to fully use AI to decide foreign policy which it says it won't and a human will always be in charge of decisions. However, with comments like those made by senior Chinese military official Dai Xu (戴旭), maybe we are better off with robots deciding things.
Aaron Kesel writes for Activist Post. Support us at Patreon. Follow us on Minds, Steemit, SoMee, BitChute, Facebook and Twitter. Ready for solutions? Subscribe to our premium newsletter Counter Markets.