Opinion | 'PLA pilot was ready to pull the trigger…': It speaks volumes about imminent danger in the Taiwan Strait

By Augustus K. Yeung

INTRODUCTION

Abroad, world events are moving in a direction detrimental to President Joe Biden. The Russo-Ukraine "Special Operation" as Putin puts it is wearing America's European allies thin, so much so that the United States has to coerce South Kora, its staunch ally in Asia, to donate $1.5 billion to Ukraine's war chest, showing that financial-and-military support for financing the US president's proxy war in Europe is getting more difficult day by day.

At home, archrival Donald Trump and his aides are making surprising strides to Biden's disadvantage. Biden's vice president Kamala Harris is proving to be a political liability – given her inability and incompetence, which is becoming a practical joke for American media.

The list can go on, showing Biden's unpopularity not only abroad, but at home where the 2024 presidential election comes crushing on this old, fragile U.S. president – whose prime time in politics is in doubt.

Meanwhile, the Taiwan issue – which has been improperly managed by Lloyd Austin, the Secretary of Defense, and angering China – is damaging communications between the two militaries.

Here is the latest report about a senior PLA fighter bomber officer who has publicly shown his determination to defend the motherland's sovereignty over Taiwan. It was going viral in China,

The U.S. president should read the following excerpt and share it with his Cabinet colleagues, especially the "Big Three" who have just visited China to mend ties.

A PLA fighter-bomber piolet was ready to "pull the trigger" and "sacrifice himself…"

A Chinese air force video has gone viral for showing a fighter-bomber pilot ready to "pull the trigger" and sacrifice himself as he "expels" an unspecified warship in the South China Sea.

Gao Zengsong, captain of an air unit of the PLA, piloted a JH-7 bomber to drive away a foreign ship that had sailed close to what was referred as in the video as "Chinese territorial waters".

The video, aired by state broadcaster CCTV, did not mention the date and location of the mission. The details of the warship concerned were not revealed either.

Note: China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have overlapping claims over the resource-rich and strategically important South China Sea. Beijing accuses the United States – which is not a claimant – of violating its sovereignty by deploying military vessels and aircraft to the disputed waters.

The video said Gao and his fellow pilots took off immediately after receiving orders to intercept the foreign vessel near Chinese territorial waters. (UN defines territorial waters as extending 12 nautical miles from a state's coastal baseline.)

"At the time, I could see from my airborne radar the foreign ship was moving. We were ready to pull the trigger." Gao says in the video.

Gao warned: "I'm the air force of the Chinese PLA. You've entered the control area…"

The clip also showed Gao shout out his position at the warship: "I am the air force of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. You have entered the control area of the Chinese Air Force. Please leave immediately. Otherwise, you will be responsible for the consequences!"

But the ship – which did not leave immediately and continued to cruise at a constant speed – was described by Gao as "provocative" .

"We have the responsibility to respond to all provocative phenomena by adversaries, to defend the sovereignty of our country. Even sacrificing myself, defending the nation with my life is worth it," he said.

In the face of the escalating emergency, Gao left a message for his comrades: "If I don't come back, remember to send that letter from my locker to my child," CCTV reported.

Fortunately, exchange of fire was averted as the foreign ship soon left the territorial waters, the report said.

The video aired by the state broadcaster has been trending on social media platform Weibo, watched nearly 50 million times.

To top it all, a recent study by the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative, a Beijing-based think tank, showed US Navy aircraft carrier strike groups had not only increased South China transits since last year, but were adopting more complicated and unpredictable routes and drill patterns.

In January, the Chinese and US militaries exchanged sharp words – after an American warship sailed through the Paracel Island in the South China Sea.

The PLA said it had warned off the guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold – after it entered the disputed zone, while the US Navy denied that it had been warned off and said the mission was to defend the freedom of navigation. (Source: SCMP)

CONCLUSION

The US president is looking like a blind old man, mounting on a blind horse who – in the darkness of the night – is drawing near to the edge of a deep pond, where danger is imminent.

Can Xi help? Will he?

President Xi is in an enviable position. Unlike Joe Biden, there is no one as troublesome as Donald Trump, who is threatening to unseat and prosecute him, exactly the way the US president is doing to him, as Trump has complained.

President Xi can make life easier for Biden's three top Cabinet members who have just been to Beijing to mend fence and to put strained US-China bilateral relations back on track.

Furthermore, Xi Jinping can convince Putin to end the war with Ukraine, and make Biden look like a winner – who can wage war and end it as soon as Donald Trump has boasted.

To top it all, the Chinese president can extend a formal state visit to the weakened US president, and let the world share his joy of being exclusively hosted by China – for the optics in America.

The Chinese president will be obliged to help. The little price that Biden must pay is getting rid of Lloyd Austin, the one-dimensional military chief – who has been "inspiring" patriotic PLA officers to sacrifice their lives, defending their honor and motherland.

 

The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.

 

Read more articles by Augustus K. Yeung:

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