PLA Air Force Colonel Commandant and President of the Institute of Marine Safety and Cooperation was quoted by Chinese media urging preparation for attacks on U.S. vessels in the event that they enter Chinese “territorial waters.” “If the U.S. warships break into Chinese waters again, I suggests that two warships should be sent: one to stop it, and another one to ram it…in our territorial waters, we won’t allow US warships to create disturbance,” the officer stated. The political and military situation surrounding the disputed areas in the South China Sea is likely to escalate in the coming year, and, if China does indeed make plans to attack U.S. vessels conducting freedom of navigation exercises, it could blow up into a military conflict. The U.S. regularly conducts freedom of navigation exercises in international waters that China claims as their own. The officer also connected the issue with Taiwan, arguing that these preparations “would boost the speed of our unification of Taiwon…let’s just be prepared and wait. Once a strategic opportunity emerges, we should be ready to take over Taiwan.
Source: Senior Chinese military official urges PLAN t… | Taiwan News
