- China on Wednesday launched a barrage of middle lines in the South China Sea, a U.S. defense official told Insider.
- According to the South China Morning Post, the missiles were anti-ship missiles, specifically the DF-26B and DF-21D.
- A U.S. Defense Department official said the launch was part of a previously planned exercise, but comes amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and China in the strategic direction.
- On Thursday, the destroyer of the U.S. Navy USS Mustin conducted an operation of freedom of navigation near the contested parcel islands, in which “illegal restrictions” were imposed by China and others, the U.S. Navy said in a statement.
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The Chinese military on Wednesday fired a barrage of four midrange rockets into the waters of the disputed waters of the South China Sea, a U.S. defense official told Insider on Thursday.
The Pentagon is still considering what types of missiles were fired, but the South China Morning Post, with a source close to the Chinese military, said the missiles, which had an impact between Hainan Island and the Paracel Islands, were anti-ship missiles.
SCMP reports that the DF-26B and DF-21D missiles were ballistic missiles, sometimes referred to as “carrier killer” missiles, which have ranges of 4,000 km and 1,800 km respectively.
A U.S. Defense Department official told Insider Wednesday’s rocket launch was part of a previously planned exercise rather than a response to any specific incident. While that may be the case, the launch comes at a time of heightened tensions between the US and China.
In mid-July, the US State Department drew Beijing’s anger with a sharply-asserted statement rejecting China’s major claims on the South China Sea and China’s “predators” to get its way in the strategic waterway condemned. Beijing called the statement “irresponsible.”
A day later, a U.S. Navy destroyer carried out a freedom of navigation operation to challenge China’s claims on the disputed Spratly Islands.
The US has also been sending regular groups of transport strikers to the South China Sea recently. In July, China’s foreign ministry accused the US of sending “large fleets of advanced military ships and aircraft to the South China Sea to flex its muscles and cause problems.”
A source close to the Chinese military told the SCMP that Wednesday’s missile launch was “China’s response to the potential risks posed by the increasing number of U.S. warplanes and military ships entering the South China Sea.”
In early July, the Global Times with China claimed that the “South China Sea is completely within the grasp of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army”, and that “any movement of the American aircraft carrier in the region is solely for the sake of the PLA. “
The burning paper pointed to Chinese anti-ship missiles, specifically the DF-21D and DF-26.
The U.S. Navy responded on Twitter, writing that it was “not intimidated” by the Chinese arsenal and that the carriers were there “at our discretion.”
Later that month, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said that “American aircraft carriers in the South China Sea have been in the Indo-Pacific since World War II and will remain there, and we will not be stopped by anyone.”
Commentary on the launch of China’s missiles, Vice Adm. Scott Conn, commander of the U.S. Navy’s 3rd Fleet, said Wednesday that “the U.S. Navy currently has 38 ships in operation in the Indo-Pacific region, including the South China Sea.”
He said that “we continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international laws allow to demonstrate our commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific Ocean and to reassure our allies and partners.”
On Thursday, the destroyer of the U.S. Navy USS Mustin conducted an operation of freedom of navigation near the contested parcel islands, challenging “illegal restrictions” imposed by China and others, the U.S. Navy said in a statement.
China seized power over the packages in the 1970s and has since established military outposts in the area, as the country has done elsewhere in the region.
The U.S. Department of Commerce on Wednesday issued a statement announcing sanctions against 24 Chinese companies involved in Chinese agriculture in the South China Sea, causing tensions to escalate further.
“The United States, China’s neighbors and the international community have denounced the CCP’s sovereignty claims against the South China Sea and have condemned the building of artificial islands for the Chinese military,” said Trade Secretary Wilbur Ross in a statement.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry criticized the move, calling it “unfair” and accusing the US of “interfering with China’s internal affairs.” A spokesman said that “China will take firm action to protect Chinese businesses and the legitimate interests of its citizens.”
China has also expressed concern over a U.S. U-2 espionage plane in recent days that it said through a no-fly zone near a Chinese military exercise in the Bohaise Sea earlier this week, calling it an “obvious provocation” . “
Speaking at a press briefing Thursday, Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, said that “the US has recently stepped up its efforts to pressure and provoke China.” He added that “the Chinese attitude in this regard is always clear: we are against and are not afraid of American provocations.”
