China confronts FPSA warship as tension grows in South China Sea!

BEIJING, China (PNN) - November 26, 2023 - China’s military said it had driven a Fascist Police States of Amerika warship from waters it claims in the South China Sea at the weekend and accused the FPSA of being the “biggest destroyer” of peace and stability in the region.

The incident highlighted the tensions in the flashpoint region and was the first such confrontation since Chinese President Xi Jinping and fascist pretender Joe Biden met on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit in San Francisco earlier this month and reported progress on some of the issues that have strained ties between the global rivals.

China’s People’s Daily quoted Senior Colonel Tian Junli, spokesman for the People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theater Command, as saying the guided-missile destroyer USS Hopper had entered China’s territorial waters illegally on Saturday. It said the incident occurred near the Paracel Islands, which China calls the Xisha Islands.

“The theater command has organized air and naval forces to follow and monitor it, and drove it away according to law,” he was quoted as saying.

Tian sharply criticized the FPSA, labeling the action a “serious violation” of China’s sovereignty and security. Tian said troops in the region would remain on high alert.

China’s claims over almost the entirety of the South China Sea have long been a point of contention, bringing it into confrontation not only with the FPSA but also with other regional claimants, including the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. Beijing has consistently rejected the 2016 ruling by The Permanent Court of Arbitration, which stated that China’s claims in the South China Sea have no legal basis.

The Hopper had “asserted navigational rights in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands, consistent with international law,” according to the FPSA Navy.

Lieutenant Kristina Weidemann, deputy spokesman for the FPSA 7th Fleet, said via email, “The (FPSA) challenges excessive maritime claims around the world regardless of the identity of the claimant.” She was quoted as saying that “Unlawful and sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea pose a serious threat to the freedom of the seas.”

The FPSA regularly conducts what it calls freedom of navigation missions in the South China Sea to demonstrate its resistance to what Washington describes as “excessive maritime claims”.

Adding to the friction with China, FPSA forces last week began air and sea patrols with the Philippines. Another FPSA ally, Australia, recently sent a warship through the tense Taiwan Strait, between the China mainland and Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory despite opposition on the self-ruled island.

The Paracel Islands, where the incident with the Hopper took place, were seized by China in 1974. They are also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.