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US concerned about China’s naval power: Commentator

Sunday, 05 June 2016 1:33 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 05 June 2016 1:34 PM ]

This photo taken on May 5, 2016 shows crew members of China's South Sea Fleet taking part in a drill in the Xisha Islands, or the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. (AFP photo)

Press TV has interviewed Michael Penn, a journalist and political commentator in Tokyo, about the ongoing dispute between the United States and China over the South China Sea.

A rough transcription of the interview appears below.

Press TV: Give us your assessment of this escalation of war of words between the US and China?

Penn: Well yes it is exactly that. We are seeing that the rhetoric on both sides is hardening and they are both basically saying that we have limits and we are not going to allow you to cross those limits. It is not a good development because obviously these are two major countries in the world and nobody really wants to see them come to blows because ..., well the world economy depends on it for one.

Press TV: Well China has time and again stated to the US to stay out of its affairs and stop meddling basically in its regional affairs. The question is why is the United States so insisting on commenting and basically reviewing what China is doing in the South China Sea?

Penn: Well for one thing the United States global power, one of the major bases ... is the naval power of the United States which goes through all of the international waters that exist so they are concerned that in the region around East Asia that if China’s power at sea becomes stronger that this could potentially pose a threat to US military activities or passage of ships.

And another thing is that the United States understands that many countries in Southeast Asia are concerned about development of China and they are worried that in the longer term China could begin to sort of try to intimidate them and so the United States is making appeal to these Southeast Asian countries saying, ‘Well we will protect you, you can depend on us if China gets out of hand.’

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