China's drill in waters near the Huangyan Island is a necessary move to uphold peace, stability in South China Sea, Senior Colonel Zhang Chi, a professor with China's National Defense University, said on Sunday.
Zhang made the remarks in an interview with China Central Television after naval and air units of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command conducted a joint training exercise in the waters and airspace around Huangyan Island earlier in the day.
A statement from the command said the exercise is a necessary operation taken in response to the acts by certain countries that have undermined regional peace and stability.
"The Philippine side's moves of stirring up trouble at sea, committing rights-infringement, staging provocation, and acting in bad faith by relying on external forces undermine regional peace and stability. The Huangyan Island is an inherent part of China's territory. The territorial scope of the Philippines has been defined by a series of international treaties, and the Huangyan Island lies outside that scope. The Philippines' reliance on external forces to stir up trouble and make waves in the South China Sea will only escalate tensions and harm the common interests of regional countries. It makes itself an undisguised troublemaker and peace saboteur," Zhang said.
"In fact, peace and stability in the South China Sea require mutual respect and consultation among countries within the region. Forming cliques and introducing external forces will only backfire. Facts have repeatedly proven that attempts to provoke disputes by relying on external forces will ultimately reduce one to the status of a tool exploited by others. Stirring up trouble with external backing yields no gains, and 'inviting wolves into the house' ultimately leads to a backlash," he said.
Zhang said China's drill is legitimate and necessary for safeguarding its rights and maintaining stability.
"The Huangyan Island is an inherent part of China's territory, and China holds indisputable sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction over the Huangyan Island and its adjacent waters. This joint maritime and air exercise conducted by the Chinese military and Coast Guard forces in the waters and airspace around the Huangyan Island is legitimate, professional and standardized. It is a necessary action to defend national territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, as well as a just move to uphold peace and stability in the South China Sea," he said.
China's drill necessary move to uphold peace, stability in South China Sea: expert
International observers have welcomed the recent summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump, calling deepened China-U.S. cooperation vital for global stability and positive development.
Xi concluded a three-day state visit to the United States on Friday, where he and Trump reaffirmed their commitment to a constructive, strategically stable relationship guided by fairness, reciprocity, and mutual respect.
In separate interviews with China Central Television, leaders and experts from around the world underscored that efforts to find a proper way for major countries to coexist not only benefit China and the U.S., but also inject much-needed stability and positive energy into global peace and development.
"And having that framework [for cooperation built on the constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability] rolled out between China and the U.S. is really important. We know that type of relationship works and it's successful. So we have to ensure that we see more cooperation between states on a global basis," said Catherine Ardagh, Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Ireland.
"After 11 years, President Xi is the first Chinese president to visit the United States of America. [For] the number of takeaways in this visit we see, as far as the outcomes, there are more than eight outcomes -- around eight outcomes are there. The world is looking toward this historic meeting," said Tahir Malik, head of the Department of International Relations, the National University of Modern Languages in Islamabad, Pakistan.
"So this mutual collaboration and respect between the United States and China sort of sets a standard for stability, growth and development. Certainly, the joint collaborations that the two presidents have set up for continual communication, I think, will be important," said Richard A. Black, the Schiller Institute's representative at the United Nations.
"Strong message of President Xi: The biggest investment of China is friendship, is cooperation, partnership, and not armed -- peaceful solutions for actually the world's problems," said Zijad Becirovic, director of International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies in Slovenia.
"President Xi Jinping's emphasis about sincerity and communication, coexistence as well as effective communication, is timely and I think we are heading for a stable world when these superpowers speak like that and continue coexisting," said Fabian Mutale, political analyst from Zambia.
Xi's visit was at the invitation of U.S. President Donald Trump. It followed Trump's state visit to China back in May.
Xi’s U.S. visit boosts cooperation, world stability: international observers
