China has got its red panties in a huff over USS Benfold entering the waters near the Mischief Reef and has vowed to show up on U.S. shores to give us a ‘piece of our own medicine’. This comes as tensions between the U.S. and China have heated up. Of course, if we had a real president tensions would be at a max over the Wuhan release. But since we have Biden, there’s nobody to force China to pay the piper…because Biden’s already been paid.
Is war between China and the United States in the cards? If our economy is set to collapse as some predict, then of course it is. If China invades Taiwan while Biden is in the basement? Same.
“Once the situation gets out of control and triggers military clash between China and the US, we must give full play to our home field advantage. China will definitely win once there is a war,” the Global Times op-ed said.
The op-ed came in response to U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold conducting a freedom of navigation operation near the Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands of the South China Sea on Wednesday, and follows China’s recent abrupt change in protocol according to which starting Sept 1, all foreign vessels (read US warships) must “report their information” when passing through what China views as its “territorial waters” and which most of China’s neighbors and Western nations consider contested.
“What the US has done is a naked provocation, and this is obvious to all,” the Global Times op-ed said, adding that the ship “posed a threat” to the “many Chinese people and facilities” on the island.
The op-ed further called on China to take action. “Only by making the US have a taste of its own medicine can we touch the nerves of the US and its allies, and reshape the Western world’s understanding of US bullying in the South China Sea,” it said.
In response, the U.S. Navy 7th Fleet said the U.S. warship sailed in accordance with international law “within 12 miles of Mischief Reef,” an area that China has heavily militarized and reportedly began flying military flights out of earlier this year.
“The land reclamation efforts, installations, and structures built on Mischief Reef do not change this characterization under international law. By engaging in normal operations within 12 nautical miles of Mischief Reef, the United States demonstrated that vessels may lawfully exercise high-seas freedoms in those areas,” the U.S. Navy said.
While the U.S. does recognize China’s claim to the Spratly Island, it rejects any claim China makes beyond a 12-nautical mile limit of the Spratly Islands. Mischief Reef is among the seven island reefs China claims as its own and has been militarizing in recent years. China established 9,000-foot runways on three islands in the South China Sea to accommodate any aircraft in its fleet, including its nuclear-capable H-6 bombers.
It’s too bad for China that they have yet to create a super virion that would engulf the ship whole. Perhaps they can coax the U.S. into funding such a thing.
Source: Zerohedge
Image: ChinaDaily
