The united states Navy reportedly plans to conduct "freedom of navigation" operations in the waters around China's built-up islands and reefs in the South China Sea about twice every three months. It comes a week after the guided missile destroyer USS Lassen sailed near China's Zhubi Reef without the permission of the Chinese government. Comments:
Separated by the Pacific Ocean, China and the U.S. share no borders and thus are unlikely to become embroiled in confrontations. But the U.S. policy, which is based on its worldwide military alliances and free global deployment, makes the country "obliged" to enhance its military hegemony and the so-called freedom of navigation operations despite the risks. Driven by a zero-sum mentality and power politics, the illegal entry of the U.S.S Lassen in Chinese waters is a muscle-flexing attempt to threaten China, which should never be allowed to happen again.
He Yafei, vice-minister of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council and a former deputy foreign minister, Nov 3
Washington's concern that a rising China will kick it out of the Asian affairs is baseless, and other regional neighbors do not intend to pick sides between the two major powers either. The U.S. presence in the region can only be constructive and welcomed by other countries, when it steadfastly seeks to avoid instigating military conflicts and frictions within the community.
Jia Xiudong, a senior research fellow at China Institute of International Studies, Nov 3
China has always managed to exercise the utmost restraint in the South China Sea disputes by engaging in immediate dialogues with all relevant parties when tensions escalate. As for its "controversial" reclamation projects on the Nansha Islands, the Chinese government also fulfilled its commitment to provide the two newly built lighthouses for universal navigational use. The U.S.' provocations leave China no choice but to enhance its defensive constructions on the islets and reefs to better protect its legal interests.
Kang Lin, a researcher at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, Nov 2
What is embedded in the U.S. warship's provocative "patrol" near China's Zhubi Reef, is the U.S.' Cold War mentality, which features its deep-rooted desire for hegemony. Such a way of thinking may prompt the U.S. government to conduct more pointless patrols near China's territorial sea at the cost of public trust at home and abroad.
Wang Kunyu, a researcher at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, Nov 3
