Presence of US warships may provoke NK, say experts

The presence of three US aircraft carriers in the western Pacific amid US President Donald Trump’s visit to Asia may provoke North Korea and further strain the situation on the Korean Peninsula, Chinese experts said Thursday.

The USS Ronald Reagan, USS Nimitz and USS Theodore Roosevelt will conduct coordinated operations in international waters in the western Pacific between Saturday and Tuesday, the first time in a decade, AFP reported.

The operations show Washington’s “ironclad commitment to the continued security and stability of the region,” Scott Swift, commander of the US Pacific Fleet, said in a statement, read the AFP report.

The US is trying to impose its ideas – forcing North Korea to give in by increasing its military presence near the Korean Peninsula to the international community and it particularly wanted to pressure China, Zheng Jiyong, director of Fudan University’s Center for Korean Studies, told the Global Times.

During Trump’s visit to Japan and South Korea, he talked about the North Korean nuclear issue. Trump encouraged Japan to purchase US weaponry to shoot North Korean missiles “out of the sky,” according to Reuters.

“The deployment of aircraft carriers will increase tensions in the region, which may also lead to a strong reaction from North Korea,” Lü Chao, a research fellow at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

The US might have judged North Korea wrong. Historical lessons tell us military deterrence will not make the North give in,” Lü said.