`The US will create more trouble, provoke more confrontations in the region, and take more dangerous and aggressive moves to provoke military conflict with China. People’s Liberation Army (PLA)

The Global Times article refers to the recent statement by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, which rejected most of China’s unreasonable sovereignty claims in the East Sea.

`The East Sea is within the effective range of the strategic weapons that the PLA possesses. China’s intercontinental ballistic missiles can cover the entire East Sea area,` Global Times quoted Trang Quoc as saying.

Previously, Global Times also broadcast a threatening message aimed at the US Navy, when two aircraft carriers USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan and a B-52 strategic bomber held joint exercises in the East Sea in early July.

The Liaoning aircraft carrier and its escort warship move in the East Sea area, December 2016.

Another editorial in Global Times wrote that China is capable of protecting its so-called `sovereign interests in the East Sea`, and said that the US wants to turn its allies and partners in Southeast Asia into `beer`.

`For the highest national interests, ASEAN countries need to maintain balanced diplomacy between China and the US. However, the US always wants to cajole or even force them to choose their side, turning them into cannon fodder in the war.`

The Chinese newspaper said that Secretary of State Pompeo’s statement on July 14 showed that the US no longer `pretends to be neutral` in the dispute in the East Sea.

The newspaper also warned that if US warships entered the so-called `Chinese territorial waters` in the East Sea, the PLA would send navy ships to block them and consider deploying more anti-ship weapons.

`If US military aircraft continue to hover in the area, anti-aircraft missiles may be deployed further. If the US conducts joint maritime exercises with countries in the region, China will do the same,` the article said.

China has recently conducted many drastic activities after Covid-19 to put pressure on surrounding countries and territories.

In the East Sea, China also deployed a series of aggressive activities such as sending the Hai Duong 8 geological survey ship into Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone, then following a Malaysian drilling ship, and sending a coast guard ship to sink a fishing boat.

US Secretary of State Pompeo affirmed that China’s policy towards the East Sea for many years has been to `use bullying` to violate the sovereign rights of countries around the region, replacing international law with `truth` thinking.

Pompeo affirmed that the US will stand side by side with the international community to protect freedom of navigation, respect sovereignty and oppose any move to use force in the East Sea and the region.