Beijing: China`s military on Thursday condemned a
second round of US-South Korean naval drills planned in the
Yellow Sea in the coming weeks, vowing it would respond in
kind.
Beijing opposes actions by foreign military ships and
planes in waters near its coast that could "affect China`s
security interests," the military`s newspaper People`s
Liberation Army Daily said in an editorial.
"If no one harms me, I harm no one, but if someone harms
me, must harm them," said the editorial, signed by Maj Gen Luo
Yuan, a frequent outspoken commentator on military matters.
"As far as the Chinese people and the Chinese military
are concerned, these are not joking remarks," Luo wrote.
China has repeatedly criticised the drills, saying they
risked heightening tensions on the Korean peninsula and
ignored its objections to any foreign military exercises off
its coast.
The expected participation of the aircraft carrier USS
George Washington is particularly irksome to China because of
its status as a symbol of US power in the Pacific and the
possibility of its F-18 warplanes flying within range of
Beijing.
The exercises are the second in a series of US-South
Korean maneuvers to be conducted in the East Sea off Korea and
the Yellow Sea. No date has been announced, but they are
expected to happen in the coming weeks. The first maneuvers
were conducted last week.
Although the Yellow Sea consists mostly of international
waters, China regards it as lying within its vaguely defined
security perimeter. China`s Foreign Ministry issued a
statement earlier this week demanding the US and South Korea
"take China`s position and concern seriously."
PTI
