Should the USA put a stop to China's rise or allow for a peaceful detente??
In the latest hot salvo in an intensifying US-China Cold War, China launched its much-feared “aircraft-carrier killer” missiles into the South China Sea in a clear warning to the US Navy.
The incident underscored Beijing’s growing willingness to flex its military muscle and even risk confrontation with the US in its adjacent waters, raising concerns over accidental clashes and an armed escalation in the high seas.
In particular, China launched a DF-21D missile from the eastern province of Zhejiang and a DF-26B missile from the northwestern province of Qinghai while People’s Liberation Army (PLA) forces conducted naval drills off the coast of Guangdong and Hainan Island this week.
The provocative move came only a day after China accused a US U-2 spy plane of illegally entering a “no-fly zone” during naval drills it held in the far north Bohai Sea.
Zhao Lijian, China’s foreign ministry spokesman, described the spy plane overflight as “provocative actions” and urged the US to stop. China’s military will neither “dance to the tune of the US” nor allow the US to “cause trouble”, defense ministry spokesman Wu Qian said on Thursday.
The Pentagon confirmed the U-2 spy plane overflight, saying it was “within the accepted international rules and regulations governing aircraft flights.”
The missile launches, meanwhile, came on the heels of a US announcement to blacklist 24 Chinese companies and target individuals it said are part of construction and military actions in the South China Sea, its first imposition of sanctions over the disputed seas.
China’s provocative missile shots came amid an unprecedented near-simultaneous four-region military exercises spanning the Yellow Sea, Bohai Sea, East China Sea and South China Sea.
At the same time, the US is doubling down on its commitment to maintain freedom of navigation in the waters. On Wednesday, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper averred that the US “won’t cede an inch” in the Pacific in what reports characterized as a thinly veiled swipe at China.
The pivotal event in spurring China’s current strategy was the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis, when the Bill Clinton administration deployed two aircraft carrier battle groups led by the USS Nimitz and USS Independence to intimidate Beijing against further provocations against Taiwan.
Then, a much weaker and poorer China was forced to back down, but since then it has been determined to avoid a similar strategic humiliation in its adjacent waters.
At the heart of China’s counter-strategy is its burgeoning armory of “carrier-killer” long-range missiles, which have significantly raised the potential cost of any American military intervention during a contingency in the Western Pacific.
The just-launched DF-26 dual-capable missile, which has a range of 4,000 kilometers, can be deployed for both conventional and nuclear strikes against targets in the high seas. The lethal weapon system is actually banned under the recently-nixed US-Russia Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
The Trump administration has cited China’s missile systems as a key justification for its withdrawal from the arms control agreement with Russia.
Much more @ source
In the latest hot salvo in an intensifying US-China Cold War, China launched its much-feared “aircraft-carrier killer” missiles into the South China Sea in a clear warning to the US Navy.
The incident underscored Beijing’s growing willingness to flex its military muscle and even risk confrontation with the US in its adjacent waters, raising concerns over accidental clashes and an armed escalation in the high seas.
In particular, China launched a DF-21D missile from the eastern province of Zhejiang and a DF-26B missile from the northwestern province of Qinghai while People’s Liberation Army (PLA) forces conducted naval drills off the coast of Guangdong and Hainan Island this week.
The provocative move came only a day after China accused a US U-2 spy plane of illegally entering a “no-fly zone” during naval drills it held in the far north Bohai Sea.
Zhao Lijian, China’s foreign ministry spokesman, described the spy plane overflight as “provocative actions” and urged the US to stop. China’s military will neither “dance to the tune of the US” nor allow the US to “cause trouble”, defense ministry spokesman Wu Qian said on Thursday.
The Pentagon confirmed the U-2 spy plane overflight, saying it was “within the accepted international rules and regulations governing aircraft flights.”
The missile launches, meanwhile, came on the heels of a US announcement to blacklist 24 Chinese companies and target individuals it said are part of construction and military actions in the South China Sea, its first imposition of sanctions over the disputed seas.
China’s provocative missile shots came amid an unprecedented near-simultaneous four-region military exercises spanning the Yellow Sea, Bohai Sea, East China Sea and South China Sea.
Though militarily the US maintains both a qualitative and quantitative edge over China, the Asian powerhouse has pursued a focused and increasingly sophisticated “anti-access/area-denial” (A2/AD) asymmetric warfare strategy in its nearby waters.
At the same time, the US is doubling down on its commitment to maintain freedom of navigation in the waters. On Wednesday, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper averred that the US “won’t cede an inch” in the Pacific in what reports characterized as a thinly veiled swipe at China.
The pivotal event in spurring China’s current strategy was the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis, when the Bill Clinton administration deployed two aircraft carrier battle groups led by the USS Nimitz and USS Independence to intimidate Beijing against further provocations against Taiwan.
Then, a much weaker and poorer China was forced to back down, but since then it has been determined to avoid a similar strategic humiliation in its adjacent waters.
At the heart of China’s counter-strategy is its burgeoning armory of “carrier-killer” long-range missiles, which have significantly raised the potential cost of any American military intervention during a contingency in the Western Pacific.
The just-launched DF-26 dual-capable missile, which has a range of 4,000 kilometers, can be deployed for both conventional and nuclear strikes against targets in the high seas. The lethal weapon system is actually banned under the recently-nixed US-Russia Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
The Trump administration has cited China’s missile systems as a key justification for its withdrawal from the arms control agreement with Russia.
Much more @ source
