China fires back at Mattis about E. China Sea islands

Beijing -- A Chinese spokesman claims  the U.S. is compromising the stability of the East Asia region. This comes after Secretary of State James Mattis' remarks about our commitment to defend Japanese territory including the island group that China is claiming it owns.

Lu Kang, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that the U.S. should not discuss the issue, as he made the standard "tic-a-lock" sign of zipping his lips to show us he means business.

China is claiming sovereignty over the very small uninhabited islands, known in Japanese as the Senkaku and in Chinese as Diaoyu. In English, we just call them Little Frick and Frack.

The U.S.-Japan treaty of 1960 is "a product of the Cold War, which should not impair China's territorial sovereignty and legitimate rights," Lu said in a statement on the ministry's website.

"We urge the U.S. side to take a responsible attitude, stop making wrong remarks on the issue involving the Diaoyu islands' sovereignty, and avoid make the issue more complicated and bringing instability to the regional situation," said the 'Kangster.'

Secretary of Defense Mattis, on his first Asian trip, spoke in Tokyo saying the Trump administration will stick to the previous U.S. stance that the U.S.-Japan security treaty applies to defending Japan's continued administration of the Senkaku islands (aka Little Frick and Frack).

The islands were under U.S. administration after WWII but returned to Japan in 1972. China cites historical evidence for its claim to the islands, and when Japan moved to nationalize several of them in 2012, China went ballistic--figuratively speaking. 

It set off anti-Japanese riots in China and they dispatched ships and aircraft to the area around them as a challenge to Japanese control.

The nation that brought us wonton soup and General Tso's Chicken registered its displeasure with Mattis' remarks he made Friday in South Korea in which he said the Trump administration is committed to carrying through on a deal reached by the Obama administration with Seoul last year. 

The deal is to deploy a high-end U.S. missile defense system known as the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) to South Korea this year. It would be used to defend South Korea and Japan against a North Korean missile attack.

With the lunatic leader 'Kim of the North' playing war games with missiles as if he got them from "the App Store," you cannot blame them for wanting to protect themselves.

China doesn't like THAAD because it would allow us to spy deep into northeastern China with the powerful radar system it uses. This would give us the ability to observe Chinese military movements and the secret ingredient to lobster cantonese.

On Friday, Lu Kang said China's "resolute opposition to the deployment . . . remains unchanged and will not change," adding that it "will jeopardize security and the strategic interests of regional countries, including China, and undermine the strategic balance in the region."

Chinese officials and academics anticipate more turbulence with the Trump administration after the president spoke with the president of Taiwan, the self-governing island democracy that China thinks they own.

President Trump raised concerns over China's military buildup in the South China Sea, and accused the of currency manipulation and unfair trade policies. He also alleged that Beijing wasn't doing enough to pressure North Korea into cutting out the crap with their ballistic missile tests.


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China slams Trump on Taiwan

China made it clear that its one-China policy is "non-negotiable" on the heels of President-elect Donald Trump hinting that he may use American policy on Taiwan as a bargaining chip between the two sides.

This is worrisome because mainland China has a lot to lose if Trump plays that game, and there is no telling what might come from it.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a statement that the "government of the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing China." He added, "That is the fact acknowledged by the international community and no one can change."

The US recognized Beijing in 1979 and since then, we have only had unofficial ties with Taiwan. Beijing considers that self-governing island as part of its territory, but then again, Beijing considers islands that they are creating in the South China Sea as theirs too.

However, since becoming the President-elect, Trump has often threatened to change the status quo of the Beijing-Taiwan dyad. He went so far as to tell The Wall Street Journal on Friday that "everything is under negotiation, including 'one China.'"

He needs to tread lightly, or at least go slowly. Leaders from countries don't like being told what to do by leaders from other countries. It would be like Mexico telling Trump that Alaska is part of Canada.

When Trump spoke with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, the first time an American president or in this case, president-elect, had publicly spoken to Taiwan's president in nearly 40 years, it rattled China's cage.

Trump went on TV and said he didn't feel "bound by a one-China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade."

And of course, Trump tweeted.

He went after China on Twitter over their military build-up and alleged currency manipulation, as well as their failure to rein in North Korea's nuclear program.

At this point in time, China, a country that appears to have designs on expanding its size and global influence, has reiterated its refusal to negotiate on Taiwan. They have run strongly worded editorials attacking Trump.

Let's hope we all use words to express our anger at each other, not hitting.



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