China's navy and air force should prepare to respond to a potential US operation to send warships within 12 nautical miles around the outposts China has built on disputed islands in the South China Sea, says a saber-rattling piece in the Global Times, a nationalistic tabloid published under the auspices of the Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily.
The US and other western media have reported that American warships will approach the disputed islands to protest China's land reclamation activities and challenge Beijing's sovereignty claims to the region, the paper said. The commander of the US Pacific Command, Harry B Harris Jr, has also proposed sending US ships within the 12 nautical miles that would constitute territorial waters where such territory is acknowledged. Harris said his proposal has been submitted to the president and the Pentagon.
The tabloid called the move an act of provocation made under the pretense of defending freedom of navigation. Beijing has said on several occasions that it will not infringe freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, a crucial shipping lane for global trade, but the US insists on provoking China to reassert its dominant status, Global Times said.
Read the full story at Want China Times