bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

Chinese state media said on Monday US president-elect Donald Trump’s diplomatic inexperience could spark a confrontation between the two nations, while one newspaper termed him unfit to lead a superpower.
They were commenting on Trump’s response to Beijing’s seizure of a US maritime probe in international waters, a move that raised already heightened tensions between the world’s two largest military powers.
WILL TRUMP CAUSE SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS TO PIVOT TO CHINA?
A Chinese naval vessel “unlawfully” grabbed the unmanned underwater vehicle in the South China Sea about 50 nautical miles northwest of Subic Bay in the Philippines, the Pentagon said on Friday.
China said the drone had been snatched since it might pose a safety hazard to other vessels.
It also said it “strongly opposed” US reconnaissance activities and had asked Washington to stop them.
The US said the device was collecting information on water temperatures, salinity and sea clarity.
On Sunday, after Beijing and Washington announced the drone would be returned, Trump tweeted: “We should tell China that we don’t want the drone they stole back. – let them keep it!”
‘Let them keep it!’ Trump tweets new twist in China drone drama
In a previous tweet, he had called China’s move an “unpresidented [sic] act”, with the misspelled word going viral – to much ridicule – before he corrected it.
“What is truly amazing about this tweet, was the soon-to-be US president completely misrepresented what had actually happened – that is more dangerous than funny,” an editorial in the state-owned China Daily newspaper said. 
Trump’s behaviour “could easily drive China-US relations into what Obama portrays as ‘full-conflict mode’,” it added, next to a cartoon that depicted Trump riding a bull into a china shop while US businessmen looked on aghast.
A separate article quoted experts as calling Trump’s behaviour “diplomatically inept”.
Trump has already infuriated Beijing by questioning long-standing US policy on Taiwan, calling Beijing a currency manipulator and threatening punitive tariffs on imports from the Chinese mainland.
The ministry of defence on Saturday had slammed alleged American “hyping” of China’s capture of the drone as “inappropriate and unhelpful”.
“Trump is not behaving as a president who will become master of the White House in a month. He bears no sense of how to lead a superpower,” the often nationalistic Global Times, which has close ties to the Communist Party, said in an editorial.
Beijing says it will return seized drone in ‘appropriate manner’, while US president-elect Donald Trump accuses China of theft
There are broader tensions in the South China Sea, where China has moved to fortify its claims to the region by expanding tiny reefs and islets into artificial islands hosting military facilities.
Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan have competing claims in the waterway.
While the US takes no position on sovereignty claims in the area, it has repeatedly stressed freedom of navigation.
Its military has conducted several operations in which ships and planes have passed close to the sites Beijing claims.
“No matter how powerful the US Navy is, it cannot act on the bottom line of China’s security,” said a second editorial about the probe seizure in the Global Times on Monday.
“If we see sonar and underwater gliders deployed by foreign ships in the South China Sea in the future, we would rather mistakenly capture a thousand than miss a single one.”


Why war on Iran threatens to unleash unrest in South Asia

India turns to ‘trusted friend’ Russia for oil, LNG supply as Iran war energises ties

Iran attacks Kuwait, Israel after Trump set deadline for deal

Lunar mission gives a fresh perspective on a troubled world

Donald Trump

Trump’s tweets on China ‘more dangerous than funny’

US president-elect Donald Trump speaks during a “thank you” rally in Mobile, Alabama, on Saturday. Trump accused China of stealing a US Navy maritime drone and said Beijing should keep it. Photo: AP

FILE - In this July 14, 2016 file photo, a woman walks past a billboard featuring an image of an island in South China Sea on display with Chinese words that read: "South China Sea, our beautiful motherland, we won't let go an inch" in Weifang in east China's Shandong province. A U.S. think tank says recent satellite images appear to show that China has installed anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapons on its man-made islands in the South China Sea. (Chinatopix via AP, File)

News

China

Incoming US president has no idea how to lead superpower, state media say following row over maritime drone


Trump’s tweets on China ‘more dangerous than funny’

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Incoming US president has no idea how to lead superpower, state media say following row over maritime drone

Incoming US president has no idea how to lead superpower, state media say following row over maritime drone