China Warns United States Of Its Disruptive Behavior In South China Sea
Jose Nino
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Sure, the US needs to restrict immigration from China — a country known for weaponizing its migrants — and decouple trade with it. However, the US should categorically reject the prospect of engaging in a military confrontation with it. Such a move could lead to a nuclear escalation that would be devastating for humanity
China recently called the United States the “biggest disrupter of peace” in the South China Sea following a US warship sailing close to Chinese-controlled islands in the disputed waters.
The US Navy’s Seventh Fleet announced on November 23, 2023 that the guided-missile destroyer USS Hopper sailed close to the Paracel Islands, called the Xisha Islands in China, in an operation titled a Freedom of Navigation Operation (FONOP). The US started regularly carrying out FONOPs to confront China about its maritime claims in the South China Sea in 2015.
The area where the USS Hopper carried out its FONOP is a disputed seaway claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam. Per The South China Morning Post, the Chinese military said it “warned off” the US naval vessels after it entered the Xisha Islands’ territorial waters.
“The serious violation of China’s sovereignty and security by the United States is further iron proof that it is pursuing ‘navigation hegemony’ and creating ‘militarization of the South China Sea,’” China’s People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theater Command declared in a statement.
“It fully proves that the United States is an out-and-out ‘security risk creator of the South China Sea,’ and the ‘biggest disrupter’ of peace and stability in the South China Sea,” the statement added.
The US is clearly moving towards a pivot to Asia as its national security elites slowly divert resources away from Europe and the Middle East to eventually confront China — a gargantuan geopolitical task if there ever was one.
Suffice to say, this endeavor is misguided. What pressing national interest is at stake with respect to China’s maritime claims in the South China Sea?
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