Chinese state media calls US real
While two US Navy carrier strike groups drilled in the South China Sea last week, Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) jets practiced anti-ship attacks nearby.
For weeks, several US aircraft carriers have carried out drills in waters near China, including in the Philippine Sea and South China Sea. However, last week, Chinese forces decided to stage their own drills, holding live-fire exercises in which PLAAF jets rehearsed how they would carry out strikes against enemy warships in the region.
The drills involved JH-7A and J-16B naval strike aircraft, which fired more than 3,000 missiles total, the Global Times reported, citing China National Radio. They were held on July 15 and 16.
In addition to flight ops by the US Navy carrier USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan, the destroyer USS Ralph Johnson carried out a still-more-provocative act on July 14, the day before the Chinese drills began: a so-called “freedom of navigation operation” (FONOP). The warship sailed inside the waters surrounding the Spratly Islands, which are claimed by China as part of its territory, in a deliberate attempt to flout Chinese claims.
“These incidents, taking place thousands of miles away from the US and on China’s doorstep, have again proven that the US is the real pusher of militarization in the South China Sea, and China is forced to take countermeasures to safeguard its national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Global Times wrote, citing an unnamed Chinese military expert.
“If US military provocations in the South China Sea persist, China could be left with no choice but to conduct more drills and deploy more warships and warplanes in the South China Sea, to the extent of setting up a possible air defense identification zone (ADIZ),” they said.
