WASHINGTON: The United States’ increasingly frequent military activities in the South China Sea indicate the military superpower’s intention to stir up trouble in the region, sound out and contain the Chinese military, and enhance its control capability in the “first island chain”, which covers Taiwan Island, experts said. The guided-missile destroyer USS Milius on Monday illegally entered the waters near Meiji Reef off the Nansha Islands without the approval of the Chinese government, according to the People’s Liberation Army, noting that the PLA followed and monitored the whole journey of the warship.
It was the third time the USS Milius infringed on China’s interests in the region within 20 days, following the warship’s two non-approved entries into China’s territorial waters near the Xisha Islands, which took place on March 23 and 24, with the ship warned off by the Chinese military.
Wang Li, executive director of the Institute of Maritime Strategy Studies at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said the actions of the US showed its intention to promote militarization in the South China Sea and undermine regional peace and stability.
–The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
