The Chinese Navy revealed Monday it conducted a huge secret combat drill in September.
The live-fire drill involved more than 100 vessels and tens of warplanes, reports the Global Times. The North Sea, East Sea, and South Sea Fleets reportedly conducted the drill in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea.
China was putting pressure on Seoul over its interest in deploying a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) in South Korea, Beijing-based military expert Li Jie told the Global Times.
China perceives THAAD, specifically its powerful X-band radar, as a threat to its national security; it hoped South Korea would change its mind, Li explained.
The drills were held to “contain South Korea’s THAAD deployment,” the Global Times noted. The drills were not broadcast to avoid overly provoking Seoul.
The report by the state-run Global Times appears to be a rare public admission of Chinese gunboat diplomacy, contrasting the earlier statements of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who said, “Going around and making a show of force is not an expression of strength, and won’t scare anybody.”
China has repeatedly and strongly protested the planned deployment of THAAD in South Korea. Japan is also looking into the applications of THAAD.
“China’s position on the deployment of THAAD is clear and unchanged,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Geng Shuang said during a press briefing Monday. “We are concerned about the report…Due to what happened in the history, Japan’s move in the field of military and security is closely watched.”
The Global Times argues China is unlikely to dissuade either South Korea or Japan. The paper asserts China should enhance its capabilities to render THAAD useless.
“China cherishes peace, but the US, Japan and South Korea are keen to take actions that threaten China’s strategic security,” the Global Times writes. “Since we can hardly stop the THAAD deployment, we can render the deployment void so that next time these countries will understand that they need to consider before taking any action.”
The Chinese state-run paper advocated pursuing improved projectile penetration capabilities and submarine warfare technology to overpower and skirt the THAAD system.
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