Beijing may be bracing for a worst-case scenario with the USA, as Chinese President Xi Jinping told military officials responsible for the disputed South China Sea to be better “prepared for war” as tensions with the USA are rising.
The calls were made during his four-day visit to Guangdong province, as he was meeting the Southern Theatre Command, the military officials responsible for one of China’s five strategic war zones.
We have to step up combat readiness exercises, joint exercises and confrontational exercises to enhance servicemen’s capabilities and preparation for war.
One of the key responsibilities of the Southern Theater Command is protecting China’s interests in the South China Sea, where Beijing claims sovereignty over a number of islands. The sea is of strategic importance to Chinese trade.
The USA is currently engaged in a full-blown trade war with China, which resulted in both sides imposing tariffs and other restrictions on each other’s products.
Washington also recently cited a threat from Chinese missiles as a justification for abandoning a key nuclear arms treaty with Russia, further undermining the Cold War era non-proliferation mechanisms.
However, the USA rejects the territorial claims and has been sending so-called Freedom of Navigation missions through the waters and airspace, which Beijing considers its own, as a gesture of defiance.
The USA has been pushing China around, humiliating China, imposing unilateral trade tariffs on Chinese exports, and also declaring China as its rival and a major threat to the US survival.
Now, it’s up to the USA to abandon its bullying tactics towards China.
RT.com / ABC Flash Point WW III News 2018.
