China’s military won’t bend to US posturing in the region, Beijing has warned, adding that Washington should abandon its current foreign policy trajectory and seek mutual cooperation.
Beijing’s relationship with the United States has become “unusually severe and complicated,” Senior Colonel Wu Qian, the spokesman for China’s Ministry of National Defense, said on Thursday, describing bilateral ties as being at a low point. The two nations established formal relations in the 1970s.
Read more: Chinese growing influence threatens US, military threats by US
“China will not dance to the US’ tune, nor will we acquiesce to its reckless behavior,” the spokesman said, warning that China will take “forceful measures” to safeguard its national interests.
He stressed the importance of maintaining communication channels between the two nations’ militaries and called for an increase in dialogue to avoid misunderstandings.
“The PLA has shot down five U-2 aircraft in the past as they trespassed into the Chinese airspace”
“The U-2…trespassed into a no-fly zone”Notice what Beijing just did: conflated national airspace with int’l airspace.
https://t.co/FBVFizWpzf— 🅾🅳🅾🅼 (@JonathanGOdom) August 26, 2020
‘US should rethink strategic vision’
Washington should rethink its “strategic vision” in regards to China and approach the Asian power “with rationality and an open mind, and pull itself out of the swamp of anxiety and paranoia,” Wu suggested.
The comments come hours after China’s foreign ministry slammed the US for allegedly trespassing in a no-fly zone during Chinese military drills.
Read more: China wants military drills with ASEAN in disputed sea, excluding US
The ministry said the presence of the U-2 spy plane in the area was a “naked provocation” and could have caused an “unexpected accident.” The US military insisted that the reconnaissance plane had not violated any international agreements or rules.
The Pentagon’s 2019 annual report to Congress on Chinese military power states China’s Northern Fleet includes one aircraft carrier, four nuclear-powered submarines, 16 diesel electric submarines, 11 frigates, and eight landing ships. The carrier is Liaoning, China’s first true aircraft carrier, which is likely a training ship designed to get the country’s fledgeling carrier force up and running.
The U-2 involved was likely part of the U.S. Air Force’s 5th Reconnaissance Squadron, operating out of Osan Air Base, South Korea. If Liaoning was conducting flight operations, a U-2 could use its SYERS2C 10-band multispectral camera to observe carrier takeoffs and landings, and even activities on the flight deck. SYERS2C uses visible light and various infrared bands to see through atmospheric conditions (like clouds and fog) where other cameras cannot.
The Chinese Ministry of Defense issued the following announcement on its website:
Today, the U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance plane arbitrarily broke into the no-fly zone for live ammunition exercises in the northern theatre of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, seriously disrupting China’s normal exercises and training activities, seriously violating the China-U.S. maritime and air safety code of conduct and related international practices, and could easily lead to misunderstandings.
The conviction even caused accidents in the sea and air is a naked provocative action. China firmly opposes this and has lodged solemn representations with the United States. China requires the US to immediately stop such provocative actions and take concrete actions to maintain peace and stability in the region.
The U.S. military is particularly interested in China’s carrier force, which currently consists of Liaoning, Shandong, and a third carrier, Type 003, which is under construction. Experts believe China will eventually build anywhere from four to six carriers.
China’s military test-fired two missiles into the South China Sea, including a “carrier killer” military analysts suggest might have been developed to attack U.S. forces, a newspaper reported Thursday.
The DF-26B and DF-21D missiles fired Wednesday targeted an area between the southern island province of Hainan and the Paracel Islands, The South China Morning Post newspaper of Hong Kong reported, citing unidentified sources close to the Chinese military.
RT with additional input by GVS News Desk