US ready to prove it's capable of gamesmanship

The United States is ready to prove it, because it knows every trick in the book. In the latest demonstration of its mastery of gamesmanship, US Seventh Fleet Commander Vice-Admiral Karl Thomas told reporters in Singapore on Tuesday that China was like a gorilla in the room, claiming that if we allow that to happen and we don't contest that, that'll be the next norm. Clearly, the US is quite willing to crow like a frustrated cockerel and steal like a mangy stray.

It is Washington's continuing reneging on the diplomatic commitments it made to Beijing on the Taiwan question that is irresponsible and will make its provocative collusion with the Democratic Progressive Party a dangerous new norm.

The top US military official in Asia accused the PLA of making increasingly assertive efforts to intercept US and Allied military aircraft in the skies over the Pacific, but he didn't mention what those aircraft are doing there in the first place.

Given the constant stream of escalating provocations by Washington, such as selling arms to the island, sending US warships to sail through the Taiwan Straits and staging high-profile visits to the Chinese island by officials, all of which hollow out the one-China principle the US claims to abide by, Beijing has a legitimate right to take countermeasures.

The PLA has made it clear that it will take action to resolutely destroy any act that aims to separate Taiwan from the motherland, even at the cost of war. Washington is trying to disguise its dirty deeds by pretending to conceal its dirty deeds, and concocting the narrative that China is trying to defend China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and that it claims unwarrantedly realize reunification by force.

On Tuesday, State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe set out China's position again. He said that the country's armed forces will certainly act to protect national sovereignty and territorial integrity and resolutely counter any attempts to separate Taiwan from the motherland.

He also made it clear that China's armed forces are willing to strengthen defense and security cooperation with the defense forces of other countries to promote the implementation of the Global Security Initiative that China has proposed as a means to establish a fair and stable global security framework.

Due to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's ill-judged and ill-intentioned visit to Taiwan, the key communication mechanisms between the Chinese and US militaries have been canceled as part of the Chinese countermeasures.

Under such circumstances, and with Washington showing no sign of changing tack, the risk of clash between Chinese and US militaries has increased tremendously. Instead of exacerbating a crisis of its making by accusing the PLA of overreacting, Washington would do better to reflect on the potential consequences of its provocations and reconsider the wisdom of building up its own and allied military presence in the region.

A miscalculation will be hard to correct.