With tensions between the US and China higher than they’ve been in decades, there’s no shortage of hostile rhetoric from US military officials aimed at Beijing. The commander for US Pacific Air Forces took things to another level on Friday and said troops in the region must be ready for a conflict with China.
Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach said on a Facebook Live call with US airmen that China is the greatest challenge to the US in the region. “We’ve got to challenge and compete with them in accordance with the national (defense) strategy, but we also have to be ready in the event we get called to go fight tonight,” he said.
The 2018 National Defense Strategy lays out the US military’s shift away from counter-terrorism in the Middle East and Africa towards so-called “great power competition” with China and Russia.
Tensions are especially high between the US and China over the South China Sea, where the US regularly sails warships to challenge Beijing’s claims to the waters. This year has also seen a significant uptick in US military flights in the region.
Wilsbach criticized China for “threatening action” when US military aircraft and ships approach “not even close to the 12-mile territory of China.” A country’s territorial waters extend up to 12 nautical miles under international law.
The US regularly sails warships and flies planes within the 12-mile zone of the Paracel Islands, a disputed archipelago Beijing claims in the South China Sea. But there have also been reports of US military aircraft flying within the 12-mile zone of China’s Hainan Island, and there’s no debate whether or not Hainan is Chinese territory.
Pacific Air Forces Chief Master Sgt. David Wolfe also spoke during the call. Wolfe said US operations in the are carried out to delay the “ultimate goals” of China. “If you don’t think that you’re participating in conflict, you know, kind of below that kinetic level right now — you are,” He said. “You absolutely are.”
People who talk like this lose wars.
Also, China’s territorial waters AND Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) to 200 miles. Under UN Laws of the Seas rules, military vessels MUST ASK FOR PERMISSION to enter EEZ declaring INNOCENT RIGHTS OF PASSAGE.
With this kind of language, US military could not even ask for permission, as intent is hostile.
As US is not even signatory, its rights are limited. It cannot be involved in any party’s dispute under UNCLOS.
What a mess.
who gives a shit what china wants, let them cry. every day we hear from china —
” china demands the U.S. stop ”
doing whatever,, ,,,, dont sell weapons to Taiwan,, dont sail somewhere,, dont fly somewhere “” blah blah blah. try making the U.S. if not,, shut the fuck up !!!!
Gotta learn to live with China. Trying to bully them in into submission on their local territorial issues is a formula for worldwide hardships, maybe extinction.
JHC what a red neck lol.
Quintessential LadyHawk talk, after the heroes -Hillary “Veni, Vidi,…” clinton Rodham and Victoria “Fuck the EU” Nuland. After our brief (farcical but welcome) Trumpian respite, I’m afraid they’re back -Avril Haines, MIchele Flournoy, Susan RIce, Samantha Power- and more ferocious than ever.
I seem to remember more than a handful of neocons serving in Trump’s administration. Trump however was more focused on turning “the Libs” into America’s enemy than he was any foreign power.
For sure Russia, China, Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, N. Korea aren’t; nor any of the list of pathetic countries, Iraq, Yugoslavia, …nso on, we’ve blown apart.
Stupid piece of shit …
Demands for exercise of rational humanitarian responses to conflict make war pigs cry.
This is why the arrogant USA is hated by so many and cares only about the rich few, not the rest of the country or the world.
Why is U.S. warmongering against China near chinese territory?
Because that is what america dose fights wars in other countries back yards.
To assert the economic dominance of our tiny wealthy elite, to set all rules in their own favor.
…. Conan said it best.
Well let’s just see if the United States will challenge Chinese or Russian warplanes that aren’t “even close” to the 12 mile territory of the United States. The General seems to be ignorant of the fact that ADIZs stretch further than 12 miles and that military aircraft that fail to identify, are routinely intercepted when they enter a nation’s ADIZ.
The US won`t take on China in it`s own back yard it would be the equivilant of a suicide mission and China will not be alone either.
Harris-Biden might, albeit by accident. Obama almost went all the way in Ukraine and Syria against Russia.
There’s no proxy between the U.S. and China in the Pacific save maybe Taiwan; very little room for miscalculation.
Well yeah, armed forces should be ready to fight. No point in spending hundreds of billions on them if they don’t bother to get ready.
That does not mean we should fight now. But we don’t tell service members, “Never mind, it isn’t important right now, just spend the money quietly.”
China? I don’t think we should fight China. However, I know we are not going to fight Japan or NATO. Who might we ever fight? Well, China is high on that list. That isn’t the same as saying, “Go fight China NOW!”
We spend far too much on defense, and we have a lot of wars right now that need to end. Still, we can’t go without any defense, and whatever we need must actually be ready to fight whoever is a potential enemy, which won’t be England. We need to cut back, way back, but still we need the guys in the forces to talk about being ready if war comes.
Do we have warmongers chomping at the bit to have a go at China?
That actually that does not describe any Master Sergeants I’ve ever known. They have all known war is nasty and likely to get them killed, or maimed, and kill and maim their friends too.
The war mongers are in think tanks, and writing stuff urging their nasty war fantasies.
Few of the NCO’s who’ve been there really want to kill anyone either, certainly not the women and children who so commonly get caught in the middle of serious fighting. There are some psychos, but nobody really trusts them, they are not the opinion leaders.
Political brass don’t care. Wilsbach wasn’t promoted to sound reasonable.
Seeing that Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach making bellicode statements on China makes me wonder if he was operating with the presumption that Trump”s reelection was a done deal, or if he ran his views by Biden. Seems to me, talking trash about China so close to an election is risky business AND I don’t think Biden wants to initiate his presidency with nuclear war with China & possibly Russia too. Certainly the people in Los Angeles must not, as China has said it would take out LA if it was attacked by the U.S.
Most people are pretty sure Trump has lost.
Trump focused on economic war as an alternative to hot war.
Oh looky here, it’s a rehash of what the Right was saying about Hillary. Biden wants nuclear war? Really? What tells you that? Decades of mindless right-wing hate media telling you that the Dems are the distillation of pure evil? The GOP and Dems may differ quite a bit on domestic issues, but they’re pretty uniform when it comes to foreign policy.
Neither China or the US appear to realize the danger they are in.
The Globalism Biden represents and that China is too friendly with, is Western European imperialism.
Peace advocates must be ready to condemn America’s war pigs.
We don’t have enough problems within our own borders to take of? That we need to get involved in Cina’s territorial disputes?
The main reason his opponents wanted Trump defeated was foreign policy. Trump just was not hawkish enough to please them. If they succeed in stealing the election and putting Biden in the White House, look for a much more aggressive foreign policy. Left wing Democratic initiatives will be put on the back burner as too likely to cause controversy and destabilize the nation during a time of war. Once all the new wars are won, Biden will turn to domestic policy and enact a left wing agenda. The only problem is that the wars will not be won. Their foreign opponents, like their domestic opponent Donald Trump, will turn out to be much tougher than anticipated. The new wars will lead only to disastrous military defeat, domestic unrest, economic crisis, and bankruptcy.
The main reason his opponents wanted Trump defeated was that they’re his opponents.
They don’t have to “succeed in stealing the election.” They already won it.
Biden is as centrist as they come. Trump and FOX News can try to smear Biden as a lefty radical with a burning American flag in one hand but that’s pure BS. There’s a reason that a big slogan on the Left was, “Settle for Biden.”
There’s also a good reason why the late vote counts favor Biden heavily. Trump told his base to vote in person, as he was busy installing his major campaign donor Louis DeJoy as Postmaster General to immediately enact policies which would cripple the Post Office during a pandemic during which most sane people would vote by mail. Most states were ill-equipped to handle the volume of mail-in ballots, which take time because they EACH NEED TO BE VERIFIED. It’s not my fault if the GOP keeps losing the popular vote.
If Obama had placed a major campaign donor in the USPS who immediately slashed overtime and ordered the removal of mail sorting machines right before an election in which there would probably be a record number of mail-in votes, the Right would rightly call BS. So why can’t you do the same when it’s Trump doing exactly that?
& apparently you’ve missed out on the domestic unrest, economic crisis, bankruptcy, and business closures which have occured under Trump, but keep eating what he’s spooning out to you. There’s a reason the Press exists, and a good reason why Trump started picking fights with them – so he could tell his base that the press was treating him unfairly, and that they should get their news about Trump directly from Trump or one of his approved outlets. You know, like they do in North Korea and Russia.
“Commander of US Pacific Air Forces said airmen must be ready to fight”.
Well, he would, wouldn’t he???
Instead of “defense”, the USA could try cooperation, diplomacy, allowing sovereignty to other nations and minding its own business. That would be unAmerican, I suppose.
Amerika is a paper tiger as Mao rightly observed–the US loses all wars. They are fully aware that amerikans are insecure and dread loneliness/ death