China’s military drills in South China Sea 'a response to US-led exercises'

SINGAPORE — China’s latest military drills in the disputed South China Sea is merely a reaction to joint military exercises in the region held between the United States, Japan and other regional players, said a former Chinese minister on Tuesday (July 19) morning.

Mr Zhao Qizheng, the former Minister of China’s State Council Information Office said during a press briefing with regional media that China has been holding more exercises in the South China Sea because it is concerned by tensions in the region.

“Of course we hope that the South China Sea will again become harmonious… (But) the US has 11 aircraft carriers in total and 10 of them are operating around the South China Sea,” said Mr Zhao, who is now Dean of the School of Journalism in Renmin University

“This imbalance of power in the South China Sea is of concern to us. If they didn’t do it (hold such joint exercises), China will not hold the latest round of military exercises,” he said, adding that if Washington scales down its military presence in the region, China will do likewise.

Last month, the US, Japan and India held their first trilateral navy exercise in the Philippine Sea. The Japanese and American navies also held a mine countermeasures drill in the South China Sea in the same month.

Mr Zhao was speaking to reporters after attending a forum on the South China Sea held in Singapore on Monday organised by the Institute of Borderland Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Science. At his keynote speech during the forum, he dismissed the ruling while saying that China will continue engaging South-east Asia closely.

When asked about implications on Singapore-China relations in light of how some Chinese observers have accused the Republic for not been more supportive of Beijing’s position, Mr Zhao said he understood Singapore’s position as it needed to strike a balance in its dealings with the major powers.

He said that it was “strange” that some Chinese netizens were concerned with Singapore’s position but “the (Chinese) government has not been part of this criticism”.

One week after an international tribunal invalidated China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea, Beijing announced on Monday that it will hold military drills in an area off Hainan province from Tuesday to Thursday.

China’s air force also said on its microblog that it had recently carried out “normal battle patrols” in the South China Sea involving bombers, spy planes and flying tankers.

China has refused to recognise the ruling by an arbitration court in The Hague last week that invalidated its vast territorial claims in the South China Sea and did not take part in the proceedings brought by the Philippines.

It has reacted angrily to calls by Western countries and Japan for the decision to be adhered to.

Beijing has blamed Washington for stoking tensions in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway through which more than US$5 trillion (S$6.7 trillion) of trade moves annually.

China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam all have rival claims, of which China’s is the largest.

The US has conducted freedom of navigation patrols close to Chinese-held islands, to Beijing’s anger, while China has been carrying out massive land reclamations and bolstering its military presence there.

Mr Zhang Junshe, a senior research fellow of the People’s Liberation Army Naval Military Studies Research Institute added during the press briefing that “it is China’s absolute right to hold any exercise in the South China Sea just in front of our own house”.

“We are not showing our muscles, just raising our own capabilities to defend ourselves,” he said.

Mr Zhang said that the latest drills are not targeted at any particular country and is merely a demonstration to other countries that have “tried to intimidate” China.

Commenting on how the latest drills are being held closer to Hainan rather than the disputed Paracels and Spratlys, he said that they are not meant to be provocative and countries in the region have no reason to be nervous.

Mr Zhang also hit out at the freedom of navigation patrols launched by Washington, saying that China has never impeded navigation in the waterway.

“Freedom of navigation is merely an excuse to keep China in check,” Mr Zhang said.

Mr Zhang likened current tensions in the South China Sea to the situation before the Gulf War, where the West had accused Iraq of stockpiling weapons of mass destruction before launching an invasion.

“The US is up to its old tricks… The idea is to create tensions and threaten countries in the region so that they will rely on the US to deal with China.”