Chinese Strategic Culture Association Executive Vice President and Secretary-General Luo Yuan had a discussion online on People’s microblog [under the website of People’s Daily] with the Netizens about the recent developments in the situation of the Diaoyu Islands.
Some asked: "Recently, it has not seemed to be peaceful in China’s surrounding waters. How do you think about the China-U.S. naval confrontation incident in the South China Sea earlier this month? Does it mean that China will no longer just tolerate everything blindly in its territorial waters?"
Luo Yuan said that, in dealing with the surrounding hot issues, China has maintained a great deal of restraint and tolerance. It can be said that we have been tolerating again and again. Now it is becoming intolerable. While we were conducting normal naval training in the Western Pacific, a Japanese missile frigate intruded into our exercise area for reconnaissance at a close distance. While our aircraft carrier battle groups were in the South China Sea for normal research and training, the U.S. cruiser also came close to our aircraft carriers. No sovereign state allows this. It was a legitimate defensive measure that we sent amphibious landing ships to drive them away and guard ourselves. We didn’t cause any threat to any country. The issue now is that the United States came close to our doorstep with its cruiser; it was not China’s warships going to the United States to provoke. It is the United States interfering with China’s normal military training, not China interfering the U.S.’s normal navigation. The U.S. cannot be too tyrannous and cannot go too far bullying people. China is no longer the lamb to be trampled upon and insulted.
Source: People’s Daily, December 24, 2013
http://military.people.com.cn/n/2013/1224/c1011-23934591.html