In objecting US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin remarks made at the ongoing 19th Shangri-La Dialogue regarding China’s behaviour in the South China Sea and its overbearing attitude towards Taiwan, top Defense Chief from the Middle Kingdom referred to US as being a gangster and trying to rule the world with its own set of rules.
Austin’s accusation that China’s “unprofessional and frequent interceptions” of other countries’ airplanes in the air space of the South China Sea is being refuted by China. Lieutenant General Zhang Zhenzhong said “we have to point out that the place or the air space where this event happened was in the air space near China’s Xisha and Nansha Islands, not the air space of American allies. And China has to take necessary countermeasures to safeguard its sovereignty and security interests. The countermeasures we have taken are conducted in a professional and safe way.”
China notes that US accusation of the nation turning the South China Sea into a militarization zone should be pointed at the Americans as it frequently sends warships and planes to intrude into the adjacent waters and air space of China’s islands and reefs including carrying out close reconnaissance exercises in the area.
The tit-for-tat between these two superpowers is causing much anxiety to ASEAN nations, not to irk both parties leaders in Southeast Asia have kept a soft tone and issued statements calling for a peaceful approach to the sea ways. After all the disputed areas are one of the most vital sea cargo routes globally, that can disrupt the global supply chain if anything were to go wrong!
The General claims China has only deployed its defense facilities in its own territory protecting what it regards as sovereign territory belonging to its country. He reminded US that there was never any trouble in the South China Sea until Washington created trouble.
Austin did not only call on China for its action in the South China Sea but also on how Beijing had imposed itself on Taiwan, which China is insistent on attaining back, while US wants to see it as an independent nation.
By sending officials to visit Taiwan, claiming support for Taiwan’s “self-defense” capacity, revising its so-called fact sheet of “U.S.-Taiwan” relations and arms sales, the United States has sent wrong signals to the “Taiwan independence” separatist forces and escalated tensions across the strait, Zhang said, noting that “This is extremely dangerous” Zhang commented.
“The Taiwan question is the one question that could most easily lead the China-U.S. relations into conflict. Mishandling the Taiwan question will have a destructive impact on bilateral ties. The People’s Liberation Army always stands ready to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity at any cost,” he further elaborated.
Clearly, the Biden administration is pushing Beijing’s button and causing uneasiness among the CCP’s top leadership, the US Indo-Pacific strategy is being labelled as only there to serve American masters.
China issued a barrage of comments against the largest economy in the world for it withdrawing from treaties, breaking away from agreements at its own will, waving the stick of unilateral sanctions against other countries, and interfering in other countries’ internal affairs, the United States, in reality, tries to rule the world with its own domestic laws and gangster rules.
“The United States is the biggest source of instability in the international order, the backstage manipulator for global turmoil and a dangerous threat to regional peace and stability,” Zhang concluded.
