Chinese military expert Yin Zhuo said, in an interview with CCTV, that the United States is trying to use the South China Sea and the Diaoyu Islands issues as a means to crush China. New U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis’s visit to South Korea and his scheduled talks with Korea Foreign Minister Yoon Boon-sik and Defense Minister Han Min-chou are to discuss such issues as the deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system, the deployment of U.S. strategic weapons to the Korean Peninsula, and strengthening the deployment of the Asia-Pacific strategic weapons. The intention is to target China. Yin expressed the belief that the United States is forcing China to meet the United States’ requirements in such areas as the economy, the world order, and on other issues.
Military expert Du Wenlong pointed out that the new U.S. Defense Secretary’s choice of South Korea as his first destination in visiting a foreign country is an indication of the two countries’ intention to strengthen their military alliance.
Du said that, for China, there is no room for negotiations on territorial and sovereignty issues, not to mention using them as a bargaining chip. China should let the world see its determination and also its ability <to safeguard its territory>. At the same time, China should display its own advantages and its expertise in the modernization of its national defense and the development of its weaponry to deal well with threats and to contain opponents.
Source: People’s Daily, February 4, 2017
http://military.people.com.cn/n1/2017/0204/c1011-29056802.html