By Philip Yeung
Out of the blue, China has launched an intercontinental nuclear missile from a submarine, somewhere deep in the Pacific Ocean. It has sparked alarm and drawn condemnation from America's Pacific allies.
The launch came on the heels of two alarming developments: A war-like America free to strike anywhere it wants, and, forebodingly, a Japan rapidly re-arming itself, building its Aerospace Self-Defense Force, and militarizing space.
Back on earth, Japan has been busy training Filipino forces and battle-testing them in joint military exercises. Unpunished for its war crimes, Japan's remilitarization is setting alarm bells ringing in China.
Though only a dummy warhead is used, the message it emits is real. Against an unpredictable US military, and a Japan getting nuclear-armed, China needs a commensurate response as deterrence. Words won't stop aggression. But nuclear muscle will.
By every metric, China is non-impulsive and non-aggressive. First, it has pledged a "no first strike" policy. Second, its nuclear stockpile, at around 620 warheads, is dwarfed by Russia's 5500 and America's 5177. Its arsenal is intended strictly for self-defense and deterrence to keep war-like rivals at bay.
The hidden message, though, is crystal-clear: A submarine-launched test confirms China's second-strike capability, it being far more survivable and elusive than a land-based launch. China is not interested in replacing America's naval supremacy in the Pacific. But it wants to curb its war-like instincts. An America that can abduct the president of Venezuela and threaten to annex Greenland by force, while starting a war with Iran, unprovoked, should not be allowed to rampage in the Pacific. It needs a policeman with a big billy club.
Make no mistake, nuclear weapons deter and win respect. If Ukraine had kept its nuclear teeth, Russia would never bite. Had Iran joined the nuclear club, it would have been spared US bombs. It is no accident that North Korea is left alone. Trump even flew to the DMZ for a high-profile meeting with its leader---all because it has gone nuclear.
Disappointingly, America and its Gang of Five (EU, Australia, Japan, Britain, Canada) never realize that their collective arm-twisting of China will only stoke the embers of war, nudging it into muscling up for future conflict. This is provocative against a country that feels wronged and disrespected. China will not be bossed around.
Penny Wong, Australia's Foreign Minister claims that China's latest test is "destabilizing" the region. Quite the contrary, the test will deter future hostilities. This is a warning shot across the bow for a re-militarizing Japan and an America thirsting for wars of choice.
The West has totally misread the Chinese character. Thanks to deep-rooted Confucian teaching, the Chinese are domesticated creatures. They enjoy cooking, mahjong, chess games and other homebody activities. Foreign conquest is not their cup of tea. The Russians are a different breed. They live and die for territorial expansion but suck at domestic engineering. Confucianism and aggression are mutually exclusive. Don't let US spun disinformation demonize a good-natured people. China will only use offensive weapons defensively. But they will guard every inch of their home turf with every ounce of their energy.
Why, we wonder, is the West silent on Japan's re-armament, just because it is a US ally? It chooses, instead, to paint China, the peaceful giant, as the evil player. Even if Filipinos have forgotten the 100,000 plus civilians slaughtered by Japan in the Manila Massacre, China moans the 300,000 victims in the Rape of Nanking. Japan has never faced its reckoning and is now back for more mischief. Doesn't history matter? Why is history taking a back seat to malicious US anti-China propaganda?
China has learned a bitter lesson. Anti-aggression takes military muscle. Moral preaching doesn't stop wars. Neither does diplomacy. Only nuclear weapons do. China the unavenged victim is taking steps to make sure that history doesn't repeat itself.
True, China only gave a very short notice for the test launch. This is calculated to shock and awe, warning the West that it doesn't need its permission for testing. Shock gets attention. The only thing that stands between war and peace in the Pacific are China's hypersonic intercontinental nuclear missiles, land-based or sea-based.
China knows: "If you want peace, you must prepare for war". Horrific wartime atrocities by Japan have taught China never to leave peace to chance. Its imperialist ghosts are now back to haunt the region. But this time, they will be vaporized and atomized. Each submarine, capable of carrying 24 advanced JL-3 unstoppable missiles, cousins of China's awesome land-based DF-41 generational-leap weapon, will lurk deep in the Pacific, to keep out the mad dogs of war.
If any Japanese soldier dares to set foot on Chinese soil again, he will go home in a coffin or a box.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
Read more articles by Philip Yeung:
Opinion | No need for saber-rattling over the South China Sea, Peace can be reeled in like a fish
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