Chinese State Media Warns Of "Full-Scale War" With US Over South China Sea

Time: Chinese Media Has Told Rex Tillerson to ‘Prepare for a Military Clash’

The U.S. Secretary of State nominee has provoked fury with his hawkish remarks on the South China Sea

China’s state media has responded forcefully to suggestions by U.S. Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson that China should be barred from the artificial islands it has built in the South China Sea, warning that any such attempt would force a “devastating confrontation” and both sides should “prepare for a military clash.”

On Wednesday, Tillerson told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Beijing’s ongoing island-building strategy in the busy waterway — through which $5 trillion of trade passes annually — was illegal and “akin to Russia’s taking of Crimea.”

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WNU Editor: This is what got the Chinese all upset .... Tillerson says China should be barred from South China Sea islands (Reuters). More here .... South China Sea: Tillerson says US should block China from new islands (BBC).

Update #1: This is the Chinese Global Times editorial .... Is Tillerson’s bluster just a bluff for Senate? (Global Times)

Update #2: The Chinese rhetoric is escalating .... Will China Go To War With US? Communist Party Pledges Nuclear Fight Over South China Sea Disputed Islands (International Business Times)

Update #3: China's U.S. experts are trying to calm everyone .... ‘Keep calm and don’t overreact’ to hawkish US talk, say Chinese analysts (South China Morning Post).