US should do some soul-searching about why its navy feels threatened: China Daily editorial

During an interview with CBS News, Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Pacific Fleet, highlighted the danger posed by the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force, calling it the topmost threat faced by the US Navy in the "Indo-Pacific" region.

Paparo, who was interviewed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz pointed out that China is utilizing its extensive 9,000-mile coastline to redefine the principles of naval warfare, saying: "I worry. You know, I'd be a fool not to worry about it. Of course, I worry about the PLA Rocket Force."

The message of the CBS 60 Minutes episode that was aired on Sunday was the US Navy is threatened by the fast modernization of the Rocket Force of the PLA, which explains why Paparo's we-are-threatened outcry over the Taiwan question has incurred a quick you-seek-it-yourself response from the PLA.

Taiwan is an inalienable part of China. It is one of the duties of the PLA to prevent the island from being severed from the motherland. Only those external parties trying to support the pro-independence elements on the island will feel threatened by the PLA. Disdained and rejected by all regional countries, it is the behavior of these external collusionists that constitutes a serious threat to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Both the CBS and Paparo should be reminded of the fact that the US government has reaffirmed that it does not support "Taiwan independence" and the US' one-China policy remains unchanged.

A question they are obliged to answer regarding their concerns — one voiced by Marianne Williamson, a Democratic candidate for president, in a recent exchange with New Hampshire voters — is: Why, out of the over 800 military bases the US has worldwide, 313 of them are surrounding China? Is it really the case that it is the PLA that is threatening the US military?

The basic status quo across the Taiwan Strait is that both sides belong to one China. It is the US that is trying to change that by deploying much of its military to the region. There has never been any strategic ambiguity over the Taiwan question on the part of Beijing.

In an editorial published on Wednesday in response to Paparo's remarks, the PLA Daily stated that the PLA Rocket Force "is intended to better safeguard national security rather than to threaten any other country or specific target. As long as the US military does not provoke or intimidate us, it should not need to worry about our missiles. But if anyone dares to invade (any part of the country), the Chinese armed forces will definitely fight back and defeat their enemies".