BEIJING, May 20 -- According to the statement of Air Force Senior Colonel Tian Junli, spokesperson for the PLA Southern Theater Command, the US guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur trespassed into China's territorial waters of Xisha Islands on May 20 without Chinese government’s permission. The naval and air forces of the PLA Southern Theater Command conducted whole-process tracking and monitoring, and warned off the US destroyer.
"The Xisha Islands are China's inherent territory. The behavior of the US military is its old trick of 'hybrid manipulation' -- to practice navigation hegemony and at the meantime, mislead public opinion," said Tian.
The spokesperson pointed out that the US action goes against the international law and the basic norms governing international relations, and has seriously violated China’s sovereignty and security, gravely undermined regional peace and stability in the South China Sea. China is firmly opposed to it.
Tian described the US move as "unprofessional and irresponsible", since "it increased regional security risks of its own making, could easily trigger misunderstandings, miscalculations and accidents at sea" , which fully proves that the US is the real “risk maker in the South China Sea”.
"The troops assigned to the PLA Southern Theater Command always stay on high alert, firmly safeguard China’s national sovereignty and security, and protect peace and stability in the South China Sea," Tian stressed in the end.
