US Calls China Drills 'Unnecessary,' Ignores Its Own Pacific Fleet
China's recent military exercises around Taiwan are allegedly 'unnecessarily' raising tensions, according to the U.S. State Department, as reported by CBS. This delicate phrasing, however, conveniently omits context: the U.S. itself conducts regular 'freedom of navigation' operations, often involving aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines, within what China considers its territorial waters—a
mere 7,000 miles from Washington D.C.'s coastline. The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, with its 375,000 personnel, 200 ships, and 1,200 aircraft, already exists as a permanent fixture in the region. One might wonder if the 'unnecessary' part is merely Beijing's insistence on responding to a foreign military presence rather than accepting it as normal. It seems 'tensions' are only 'unnecessary' when the
other side is doing the drilling, especially when those drills are a visible reaction to U.S. military posturing in its own backyard. The implied message is clear: our military presence is peace-keeping; yours is aggression. How many exercises does one need to conduct off another country's coast before the 'unnecessary' label applies to them?