US gradually escalating threats to China: Scholar
US warships in the Taiwan Strait are a part of a “pattern of gradual acceleration and escalation of the threats to China,” American writer and academic James Petras says.
On Monday, two US warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait, according to an American military spokesman, amid heightened tensions with China.
The USS Curtis Wilbur and USS Antietam carried out a routine transit to prove US commitment "to a free and open Indo-Pacific," Colonel Rob Manning told reporters at the Pentagon in Washington, DC.
"The ships' transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific," Commander Nate Christensen, deputy spokesman for US Pacific Fleet, said in a statement.
"The US Navy will continue to fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows," he added.
Several Chinese warships shadowed the American vessels during the transit, military officials told CNN.
Petras told Press TV on Tuesday that “this move by the US with these warships is part of a pattern of gradual acceleration and escalation of the threats to China. This is not an isolated incident.”
“It is part of Washington’s plan to focus on conflicts with China. They are encouraging separatists in China. They are encouraging separatists in Hong Kong. They are encouraging Taiwan to continue the path away from China. They are engaging in a trade war with China,” he stated.
“And none of this is succeeding because China has allies. It has great projects creating infrastructure. China is working very closely in large scale on agreements -- military and economic -- with Russia,” he noted.
“China will continue to trade with Iran especially in the export of oil. So I think these are provocative gestures by Washington. But I don’t think they will have any lasting effect because China has a great potential for trade, investments with all of the countries of the world,” the analyst said.
“And I think this is simply a losing strategy that the US has adopted towards China and it’s a root for defeat,” Petras concluded.
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