The official Communist Party paper Global Times published a lead editorial today warning that the US is preparing for war, nuclear war, against China, and called for China to “accelerate its speed of building up strategic strike capabilities, including a nuclear second-strike capability.”

Titled “Build up defense to thwart US provocation,” the editorial references the US deployment of a warship within the 12 mile limit of one of its islands in the Xisha (Paracel) islands on Jan. 30, noting that this is not an unoccupied island, nor an artificially created island as in cases of the US provocations in the Nansha (Spratly) islands, but rather the Zhongjian Island is “under China’s actual control, and China has released the territorial sea baseline of the Xisha Islands, including Zhongjian Island. Therefore, the US provocation this time is more vicious.”

The Obama Administration used the excuse, in the case of entering the 12 mile territorial limit of the island artificially created by China, that the UNCLOS does not recognize territorial sovereignty around such islands. This is clearly not the case in the case of Zhongjian, and explicitly demonstrates the lie of Obama’s claim that he does not take sides in the territorial claims themselves. The fact that about 90% of the trade which passes through China’s claimed territory of the South China Sea (the “nine-dash line”) is with China itself demonstrates that it is China alone that must be concerned about “freedom of navigation” from the US provocations and the ongoing US military occupation of the Philippines.

The Global Times editorial also notes that “China’s military strength still significantly lags behind that of the US. If the US is ready for a face-off in the South China Sea, it can quickly gather its military strength despite the far distance…. China’s military budget only takes up 2 percent of its GDP, much lower than the US figure of 4 percent.” 

They conclude with the above call for a military build up to prepare a response to a nuclear assault from the US.

The Obama Administration has joined with the British in escalating a personal smear campaign against Russian President Vladimir Putin, along with their escalating military threats which have brought the world to the edge of thermonuclear confrontation. Russian officials and national security experts have noticed, and are discussing the matter openly.

On Jan. 31, The National Interest magazine published an article by four well-known Russian think-tank analysts under the headline “How to Avoid War With Russia.” The four authors, Andrey Bezrukov, Mikhail Mamonov, Sergey Markedonov and Andrey Sushentsov, asserted that the US grand strategy for the 21st century is to contain China, and as part of this strategy, Washington aims to keep Russia down, forcing Moscow to join an alliance with Washington against a Beijing that will threaten Russian interests. The authors note that Russia has already devised an asymmetric response to this insane US strategy, by launching the flanking military operation in Syria, and by aligning with China in such formations as the BRICS.

In a similar vein, Sputnik News reported Jan. 30 that Col. Gen. Leonid Ivashov—a senior Russian strategist and head of the Academy for Geopolitical Problems—has called for Russia to modify its new national security strategy and military doctrine to counter the most recent Obama Administration strategies that target Russia as the greatest threat to Europe. “Situations change and the country changes as well,” Gen. Ivashov told Zvezda TV. “So, the national military doctrine evolves. I think changes to the doctrine have been prompted by the fact that the US adopted the new Strategy of National Security in February 2015 and then the new Military Doctrine in July, which have significantly changed the US’s military policy.” Ivashov argued that the US has rejected the idea of multipolar cooperation, and continues to assert its unipolar dogma. “According to its doctrine, the US will use military force to protect its national interests. But its interests know no limits around the world. Washington says it will deploy its troops and engage in armed conflicts to protect its interests.”