US military South China Sea moves are ‘futile and its allies risk harm’: Chinese colonel

Chinese navy researcher says ‘US double standards cannot disguise its real motives’ on disputed territory in one of Beijing’s public posts about the issue

China’s Southern Theatre Command used social media to try to sow doubt about US loyalty to allies such as India

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Sailors observe the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) from USS Nimitz (CVN 68) as the Nimitz and Ronald Reagan carrier strike groups steam in formation last week. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 2:18pm, 13 Jul 2020Updated: 11:16pm, 13 Jul 2020

United States military action over the South China Sea was destined to be futile and American allies would be harmed, Beijing said in a series of tough rebukes against Washington.

In commentary in the PLA Daily on Monday Zhang Junshe, a senior colonel in the Chinese navy, said the US should stop its provocative acts in the South China Sea and Beijing was determined to safeguard its maritime sovereignty.

“The US is not a country in the region and it is doing large-scale exercises in the South China Sea, far away from its homeland, yet at the same time it is unreasonably accusing China of doing normal military exercises at its doorstep,” Zhang said.

“The double-standard remarks from the US cannot disguise its real motives, which is to push militarisation and destabilise peace in the South China Sea,” said Zhang, who is also a senior research fellow at the People’s Liberation Army Naval Military Studies Research Institute.

Aircraft from Carrier Air Wings 5 and 17 fly in formation over the Nimitz Carrier Strike Force, in the South China Sea on July 6. Photo: EPA-EFE

He said the US military, despite being affected by the coronavirus pandemic, was holding tight to a Cold War mindset and persisted in hitting out at the competition.

At the weekend, China’s Southern Theatre Command said in its official WeChat account that although the US wanted to reassure its allies in the Indo-Pacific region, no one could be assured that the US might not exploit these alliances and that Washington could be tough even against its friends. The post said that said one example was India which it said had been threatened with sanctions by the US after signing an arms deal with Russia.