PLA warns away trespassing US warship near Nansha Islands
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on Tuesday warned away USS Chancellorsville after the US guided-missile cruiser trespassed into waters around the Nansha Islands in the South China Sea without China’s authorization.
The US military’s actions are a serious violation of China’s sovereignty and security, and irrefutable proof of its hegemony in navigation and militarization of the South China Sea, Tian Junli, a spokesperson of the PLA Southern Theater Command, said on Tuesday, noting that such behavior fully reveals that the US is the provocateur against peace in the region.
China holds indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and their adjacent waters, and the PLA Southern Theater Command maintains a high state of readiness at all times to resolutely defend the country’s sovereignty, security and peace and stability in the South China Sea region.
It is the first case of a US warship trespassing into waters of China’s territory since leaders of the two sides met in Bali, Indonesia in November. Experts said that the move suggests that China-US rivalry in the South China Sea will be a long-term phenomenon, and the US won’t stop its provocations.
“On the South China Sea issue, China and the US have great divergences, and both sides need to work on strengthening control to avoid the issue moving from friction to conflict. If there is a conflict, it will have a huge impact on the political and public opinion environments in both countries, which may lead to a more profound confrontation between the two sides,” said Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations at the China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing.
In a group of photos published on Tuesday by the PLA Southern Theater Command, which observers said is the first time such detailed information was released, the USS Chancellorsville is seen making a sharp turn near the islands and deliberately rushing around.
The route of the USS Chancellorsville’s incursion has revealed the most sound and true situation of the scene, which makes neighboring countries and the international community see the dangerous and provocative actions taken by the US, a military commentator told the Global Times on condition of anonymity.
All along, the US has been using the South China Sea issue as an excuse to deliberately stir up instability in the region. By constantly making trouble, it hopes to get countries within the region to jointly contain China’s development, experts said.