Conflict with China

Timothy Birdnow

China sends warships to threaten U.S. vessels in the South China Sea.

From Newsweek:

In a statement Friday issued by the Chinese People's Liberation Army, Southern Theater Command spokesperson Sen. Col. Li Huamin reacted to the recent presence of Independence-class littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyernear the Spratly Islands and Paracel Islands. The two South China Sea land formations were the subject of international disputes, but Beijing claimed exclusive rights to them.

"The Chinese PLA sent ships and aircraft to conduct the whole-process monitoring and verification on the two US warships and warned them to leave," the statement said, saying Li has accused the U.S. of trying "to stir up trouble in the South China Sea under the pretext of freedom of navigation."

"He urged the U.S. side to stop such provocative acts immediately so as to avoid unexpected incidents," the official release added. "Li reiterated that China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and adjacent waters. No matter what tricks the U.S. vessels and aircraft may play, the Chinese military is determined and has the ability to safeguard the national sovereignty and security and maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea."

Remember, this is international waters that China just claimed without any justification. Just because it's called the South China Sea doesn't mean it belongs entirely to China, any more than the Indian Ocean belongs to India.

The article continues:

The U.S. has challenged China's vast claims to the South China Sea, which hosts crucial commercial shipping lanes and vast oil and gas reserves. In recent years, the Pentagon has stepped up so-called "freedom of navigation" operations to enforce its position. These operations were based on the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, ratified by China, but only signed by the U.S.

Washington has accused Beijing of militarizing islands, islets and reefs claimed also by Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. Chinese officials have defended their actions by arguing any actions here were sovereign decisions taken in the name of national security.

China is determined to displace America, and clearly believes they will have to fight us at some point. I for one believe we should not pussyfoot around with the Chinese. We made them a superpower by common agreement with Europe, by sweetheart trade deals, by offering Western technology and education. We can end their power simply by cutting off those things.

A good start would be to end this foolish cold war with Russia. The Russians and Chinese are now allies against US, but that needn't be the case. In fact, China poses an existential threat to Russia, more even than it does to the U.S. The Chinese plan on exporting their surplus population into Russian Siberia at some point, and have in fact been filtering in illegal aliens - whole towns even - into Siberia. Eventually it will be more Chinese than Russian and the Chinese will simply take it. We should make that clear to Putin, and make it clear we support them in their efforts to maintain border integrity. But first we have to lead by example here - which means controlling our own border.

China, like the old Soviet Union, is a paper tiger, in my view. They can be beaten in the same way.

But first we have to face the fact that they are not our friends. That's hard for Americans to do.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 10:03 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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