CHINA-US: SOUTH CHINA SEA
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An article in China's official Global Times on July 21, 2015, reacted to the US Pacific Fleet Commander, Admiral Scott Swift's confirmation that he had been aboard a P-8 for a seven-hour close surveillance flight over the South China Sea. China's Ministry of National Defence was quoted as saying that frequent, wide-ranging close surveillance of China by US military aircraft has "severely damaged the bilateral mutual trust and jeopardized China's security interests" and that China is "firmly against it". Zhu Feng, a Professor of International Security at Nanjing University, warned that more substantial activities may be carried out by the US military in the South China Sea with a rising tendency of military intervention on a wider range.He added that US influence in the region will be compromised as long as China continues its construction on the land and that the US expects China to make concessions under its military deterrence. "It is also aware that in a few years, when China has a strong navy, the US' [military] capacity will not match its ambitions".
Wu Shicun, President of the National Institute for the South China Sea, told Global Times that "creating a hyped-up China threat to the South China Sea will help laws get passed in Japan and the Philippines to strengthen military cooperation with the US, which would help pave the way for the US to complete its containment strategy against China".
Wang Xiaopeng, a maritime border expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that "The surveillance is a signal that the US has grown increasingly keen on pushing forward its strategic rebalance toward the Asia-Pacific, featuring a more in-depth intervention in the South China Sea".
Referring to the China Maritime Safety Administration's announcement on July 21, 2015, that the Chinese navy will conduct military drills in the South China Sea to the east of Hainan Province from Wednesday to July 31, 2015, Wang Xiaopeng said "The drills will demonstrate the determination and capability of China to safeguard its interests at sea as well as regional stability."
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