China: US Sent Destroyer To South China Sea After US Spy Plane Flew Over Taiwan Strait
By Donald Standeford, Correspondent - Follow -
Date Published: June 26, 2022 7:00PM UTC
Last Modified: June 26, 2022 7:00PM UTC
BEIJING - Chinese state media, Global Times claims that the United States sent a destroyer to the South China Sea just one day after sending a P-8A anti-submarine aircraft 'spy plane' over the Taiwan Straits.
China's state media claimed that Chinese 'experts' stated Sunday that the US vessel, which they say is the USS Benfold destroyer, might 'stir up' troubles in the South China Sea, or Taiwan Straits, but said that the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) would be "ready to deal with any "aggressions" it could make".
The article went on to claim that the USS Benfold destroyer entered the South China Sea through the Verde Island Passage in the Philippines, citing the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative which is a think tank in Beijing.
Global Times called the USS Benfold a 'habitual offender' in the South China Sea and Taiwan Straits, claiming that it 'illegally' entered into Chinese territorial waters off the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea "without authorization from the Chinese government" and claimed to have warned it away.
They also claimed that it had transited the Taiwan Straits in July of 2021 while the PLA tracked it "through its entire course".
Global Times reiterated a statement made by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin who said that there is "no such thing as international waters" in the Taiwan Straits and said that China has sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction over the entire Taiwan Straits, and claims that vessels passing through the straits are violating China's territorial sovereignty.
The paper cited Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator as saying that the United States "should not take the PLA's restraint as weakness, as the PLA will take resolute measures to counter any threat that endangers China's sovereignty and security".
