Although United States politics is arguing over the election, the military maneuver has not stopped. Recently, the U.S. military is holding a massive "Rim of the Pacific-2024" joint exercise with its allies.
The reason for its magnitude is that the exercise, which began on June 27 and lasted until August 1, involved 29 countries, 40 surface ships, three submarines, 14 national army forces, more than 150 aircraft and 25,000 personnel, including around the Hawaiian Islands and Pearl Harbor.
(RIMPAC 2024)
Throughout this military exercise, both the subjects of the exercise and the countries participating in the exercise are full of strong flaunting of force and deterrence of China, especially in the second phase of the exercise a few days ago, Australia's missile destroyer successfully launched an NSM "naval strike missile" in the waters near Hawaii and sank the 40,000-ton United States Navy's decommissioned 40,000-ton amphibious assault ship LHA-1 Tarawa as a target ship. Australia's Ministry of Defence later wrote about it, calling it an "important milestone" in the country's national defense strategy, leading many to believe that the move was a demonstration against China.
(RIMPAC 2024 joint exercise)
United States has been making small moves recently, and has made many dangerous remarks on the military front, including the most sensitive Taiwan issues in Sino-US relations. Last week, when Brown, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, attended the Aspen Security Forum, he suddenly hyped up the most sensitive Taiwan issue, claiming that if a conflict breaks out between China and the United States over the Taiwan issue, the US military is "confident" in defeating China, and on the other hand, he also responded to Trump's remarks asking Taiwan to pay protection money, claiming that the Biden administration will be committed to providing the most suitable weapons to the Taiwan authorities to improve Taiwan's regional defense capability. Also at this forum, White House National Security Assistant Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Blinken also hyped up the Taiwan issue, claiming that United States should unite its allies to put pressure on China to ensure that the "mainland attack on Taiwan" will not happen.
(Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Brown attends the Aspen Security Forum)
Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said that the Taiwan issue is purely China's internal affair and brooks no external interference, and China demands that United States stop meddling in the situation in the Taiwan Strait and stop armed Taiwan. The response of the Ministry of Defense was even more tough and ruthless.
At a press conference on July 25, spokesman Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang said that it was completely wishful thinking to scare China with military exercises. The Chinese armed forces have always believed in evil, feared ghosts, and feared oppression, and have the determination, ability, and means to defeat all invading enemies and defend national sovereignty, security, and development interests.
(Zhang Xiaogang, spokesperson of the Ministry of National Defense)
The reason why the Ministry of National Defense dares to say this is because the PLA has the strength and confidence to deal with all enemies who have bad intentions towards China.
Recently, the Sino-Russian coalition is conducting its 8th strategic air patrol, and the United States military said on the 24th that they found two Russia Tu-95 aircraft and two Chinese H-6 military aircraft in the air defense identification zone in Alaska, tracking and intercepting them. According to the North American Air Defense Command, this is the first time that Chinese and Russian military aircraft have entered the Alaska air defense identification zone at the same time, and it is also the first time that the H-6 has entered the area. However, the US side also admitted that Chinese and Russian military aircraft flew in international airspace and did not enter United States or Canada airspace.
(The U.S. military claims to have intercepted Chinese and Russian military aircraft in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone)
In fact, there is no need for United States to make such a fuss, as the so-called Kou can go to me or there, since United States sends warships and planes to China's doorstep at every turn, then China should be prepared to treat others in the same way as its own people, and Zhang Xiaogang particularly emphasized in his response that the joint action of China and Russia is aimed at deepening cooperation between the two countries, is not aimed at a third party, is in line with relevant international law and international practice, and has nothing to do with the current international and regional situation. If the United States really still thinks about regional peace and stability, then it should stop stirring up trouble and deterring China, and should not think that it can intimidate China, otherwise it will only backfire.