China: We Are Prepared for Obama’s War; We Can Draw a ‘Red Line’ To Make This Clear to Washington

The Chinese Communist Party paper Global Times Monday issued an op-ed titled: “Set red line for US to avoid military clash in S. China Sea.” The author, Wang Wenmen, points to U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carters’s antics visiting aircraft carriers in the South China Sea, the U.S. military build-up, and constant deployment of military ships and planes “under the guise of maintaining the freedom of navigation.” and Wang calls for China to “set a red line for the US and make clear to Washington, that if it continues to infringe on China’s core interests by challenging China’s territorial claims and not respecting its sovereign rights, it should be aware of a dangerous showdown with China.”

The article calls for China to adopt “more active measures” to counter the provocations, and warns that, “if the US acts on its will to actually go to war with China, the Chinese military will not hesitate to take countermeasures.”

It concludes: “Though China is reluctant to see it, a military clash could be dangerously triggered by accident, given the Pentagon’s frequent and escalating military provocation. But it will not happen unless the US crosses the red line.”