Chinese Commies threaten Australia for "interference" in South China Sea

Uh oh China is mad at Australia for sailing ships around in international waters!!!




Bangkok: A Chinese Communist Party-owned newspaper has published an article warning that Australia's "interference" in the flashpoint waters of the South China Sea may prompt China to "adopt strong countermeasures which will seriously impact Australian economic development".

Zhang Ye, a researcher at the Chinese Naval Research Institute in Beijing, wrote in the hawkish Global Times that Australia's "kissing up to the United States" will "poison its relations with China and shake up [the] foundation for its strategic balance between China and the US".

In a new year article, Zhang accused Australia of a "double standard" by supporting a 2006 finding brought by the Philippines under the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea that China has "no historical rights" to the South China Sea.

"However when Australia dealt with its own conflict with the Timor-Leste [East Timor] over a sea border, it took a contrary stance and claimed all the results of the arbitration were meaningless and unacceptable," he said.

Zhang, whose institute is an arm of the People's Liberation Army, criticised Australian support for freedom of navigation operations by US ships close to Chinese occupied islands in the disputed waters, saying "once Sino-US relations are strained, Australia will have to choose between the two countries and fall into a deeper strategic plight".

He said Australia's provocations on the South China Sea "have increased Canberra's strategic burden, widened the gap between its limited powers and its goal to become a middle power".

Zhang said Australia should recognise "China's peaceful rise" and not let the South China Sea issue damage bilateral relations or become a "tool for foreign forces to undermine regional stability".

[link to www.smh.com.au]