Posted on 11/21/2020 9:37:14 PM PST by cba123
BEIJING: China said on Thursday that US Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite's call for the establishment of a new naval fleet at the intersection of the Indian and Pacific Oceans is aimed at expanding Washington's military prowess and defence budgets hyping the "China threat".
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing here that "China's development is an opportunity, not a threat, as it will add to the world's strength for peace".
"Some people in the US have got into the habit of hyping up the so-called ‘China threat', because they need excuses for their expanding military prowess and budget so as to seek regional and global hegemony,” he said when asked for his reaction to Braithwaite's comments.
He said the US, which has the largest military expenditure, set up military bases all over the world and had frequently claimed to be threatened by others.
"Can anyone think up a more ridiculous logic? We urge the US to discard the outdated Cold War and zero-sum game mindset, view China's development in an objective and rational way, and play a constructive role for peace and stability in Asia Pacific,” Zhao said.
Earlier, Braithwaite called for the US Navy to establish a new numbered fleet closer to the border of the Indian and Pacific Oceans – perhaps out of Singapore – to more fully address the naval challenges in the US Indo-Pacific Command area of the world, the USNI (US Naval Institute) News reported.
"We want to stand up a new numbered fleet. And we want to put that numbered fleet in the crossroads between the Indian and the Pacific oceans, and we're really going to have an Indo-PACOM footprint,” Braithwaite said in his address to honour the 245th US Marine Corps birthday at the National Museum of the Marine Corps on October 27.
"The Chinese have shown their aggressiveness around the globe. Every single one of our allies and partners are concerned about how aggressive the Chinese have been. ...
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#StatehoodForTaiwan
Rebirth of the US Asiatic Fleet?
I agree with you (lived there a long time ago, in fact) but this issue is far more important than just Taiwan.
Biden is going to give Taiwan to Mainland China.
Biden is going to give Taiwan to Mainland China.
I believe you are correct. The problem is most people don’t understand what a threat china is and would not be happy about us getting into a costly war to help twain. To be honest I don’t think China is willing to get into a war with us to take twain problem is if biden signals that we won’t help twain China will have a green light.
It would be a great way to troll China. :)
This guy is full of used food. I remember him.
He accused the US military of spreading the China virus.
It ‘riles China’ you say? Good!
Anything to take some of the wind out of their totalitarian sails is a positive.
Everything riles China.
China is irate because it counters their plans for their
new bases in the absconded South Pacific islands, as well
as others.
If Biden steals the presidency, we will be lucky to have any fleet.
Who is going to volunteer to join the Navy after this?
Part of patriotism is love of country. By destroying all respect for the institutions of the USA plus denigrating the history of the USA then lost is all reason to volunteer for the armed services.
The DOD is going to be starved of young conservative volunteers going forward. However if they can tank the economy bad enough they will get economic refugees to join.
Good...
We dont live to give China warm fuzzies...
Biden is their puppet. So I doubt this is going to happen in that scenario. Only when Trump wins will the USA stand up to China.
No big deal. Fleets are an administrative asset and maintenance function for a geographic area. CoCom’s are the warfighter organizations for an area. PACOM already covers this.
This doesn’t imply a larger navy.
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