HQ-9 SAM. (Photo : PLA)
China's deployment of an undetermined number of surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) in some of the islands it illegally occupies in the South China Sea is "completely reasonable, in light of the powerful naval force of the U.S. in the region."
A story in the People's Daily, China's largest newspaper and owned by the Communist Party of China (CPC), said neither the U.S. nor surrounding countries are the targets of the SAMs. It noted the SAMs "won't be launched unless China's sovereignty over these islands and reefs are violated."
The story also said "the U.S. is the one who truly threatens regional stability, though Western media has been spreading the theory of the so-called China threat."
On the other hand, it noted the situation in the South China Sea has been stable since the U.S. presidential election. Some countries (read Japan) still hope the U.S. will maintain its Asia-Pacific Rebalance strategy.
"We will never start a fight as long as others remain peaceful, but we'll fight back when violated," said the story.
The bottom line is China will never give up its core interest in the South China Sea, which is that it owns this piece of maritime real estate despite a court declaring China's claim illegal and unlawful.
The event that triggered China's response it has the lawful right to defend the South China Sea it owns were news stories stating China had deployed "hundreds" of SAMs on the islands it occupies in the Spratlys Archipelago.
Fox News made the patently untrue claim China deployed over 500 missiles in the Spratlys, an impossible number since there isn't any room on China's occupied islands to hold this many SAMs.
These SAMS were said to include CSA-6B (a non-existent SAM) and the land-based HQ-9 SAM, as well as the HQ-26 only deployed on surface warships such as destroyers of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).
Fox also said these SAMs will form a comprehensive air defense system once it deploys CSA-6B, HQ-9 and HQ-26 in the South China Sea.
Images from American intelligence satellites, however, reveal two SAM systems stationed in Hainan. Intelligence officers said the SAM systems were recently moved to Hainan from the mainland, and are believed to be in Hainan only temporarily.
They believe Hainan is likely a training site before the missiles are eventually deployed in early 2017 to China's man-made islands in the Spratlys and on Woody Island that houses a large military base and an airfield capable of taking any Chinese military aircraft, including fighters.
