Query and Persuade US: Commentary

The incident of military friction between the two big countries of China and the United States, which was caused by the collision of their military planes, cannot but have aroused people's concern. What is more, this incident occurred in the transition period when the new US government is determining the framework of its relations with China after its assumption of office and on the eve when the US government made a decision concerning whether it should carry on its arms sales to Taiwan, therefore the case becomes especially sensitive.

After the occurrence of the incident, the actions of the US side have made people feel that the Americans are impervious to reason:

--Three US destroyers were close to the nearby water areas of China's Hainan Island, in order to "monitor the development of the situation".

-- Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner said: Chinese military planes should be responsible for the incident. If the Chinese pilot had observed international air rules, the tragedy should have been avoided.

-- Dennis Blair, admiral of the US Pacific Fleet, said: The interdiction of US military planes by Chinese fighters is an action of frequent insecurity. In the past few months, Chinese fighters have repeatedly obstructed US army's implementation of reconnaissance tasks and this action has become increasingly overdone, thus threatening the security of Chinese and US planes.

-- McCain, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee said: They should not enter this plane, or inspect any equipment on it. I think this is what we need first to ask China to give the guarantee.

--The US officials are indifferent to China's missing pilot and the crashed Chinese fighter, but instead they obstinately stressed: EP-3 electronic reconnaissance plane comes within the limit of US sovereignty, the Chinese side should not send people to board the plane, let alone search it, they also required the Chinese side to provide help to repair the plane as quickly as possible, so that the aircrew can fly back to their base at an early date.

In the last few years, the United States has stepped up military reconnaissance of China and dispatched fighters to frequently haunt the territorial air space of China's nearby coastal areas, it even bides its time to sneak into Chinese territorial air space, which has given rise to the situation of repeated air confrontation between Chinese and US fighters. Now, the collision of two planes has led to the wreckage of Chinese fighter and the missing of its pilot, instead of making an apology to the Chinese side, the US side charges that China should be responsible for the incident, How unreasonable! If Chinese fighters carried out reconnaissance at the door of the United States, crashed the US plane and caused the death of its pilot, what would the US side react to this?

The occurrence of the incident has compelled the Chinese people to ask the US side to make explanations about these matters: Why have US fighters so frequently carried out activities near China? Whose conducts are "actions of increasingly frequent insecurity"? Who, after all, has posed a threat to the security of others?

The US planes, without China's permission, arbitrarily intruded into China's territorial air space and landed on a Chinese airport, this, without doubt, constitutes an infringement upon China's territorial air space and sovereignty. Under such circumstances, the US side went so far as to declare that this illegally landed plane "comes within the limit of US sovereignty". We should like to ask: if Chinese fighters, without the permission of the US government, arbitrarily intruded into the US territorial air space and landed in a US airport, would you think that this plane came within the limit of China's sovereignty, and give a guarantee to China that you would not board the plane for inspection?

The right and wrong of the matter are crystal clear, so we need not to take a lot of arguing.

Here, we would like to give the US government some persuasion:

The gangster logic of hegemonism won't work before the Chinese people. You shouldn't be so arrogant on the strength of your might. You should know China's present position in the world is won through the struggle, work and efforts of the Chinese people, it is not bestowed by anyone. The way of Chinese making friends is "when friends come we have good wine to treat them; but when and if a wolf comes, we have hunting guns to cope with it". Arrogance and haughtiness can only court others' resentment, and is unhelpful to a solution of the matter and harmful to the international image of the United States.

The Chinese people never believe in irregularities, nor do they fear pressure, this has been fully borne out by the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea launched in the early 50s. At the same time, the Chinese people cherish very much the hard-won peaceful environment, they do not hope conflict with the United States, much less the deterioration of the situation which proceeds to affect Chinese-US relations and the general situation of the Asian-Pacific security. We have noticed that the US side has ordered the three destroyers to steer off the water areas of the South China Sea to "continue their original missions". This attitude deserves welcome. The present urgent task for the US side is to make a sincere, earnest, modest and polite apology to the Chinese people and compensate for their losses. Then, they should sit down calmly and sensibly to solve other problems through negotiation with the Chinese side. This is the common desire of the Chinese and American peoples and is where their common interests lie.






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