The Wall Street Journal is reporting that a Chinese general used a regional security conference this weekend to tell a global audience that U.S. rhetoric about the South China Sea risks provoking Beijing.
For the Chinese audience, the general used saltier — and perhaps more provocative — words to describe how he feels about U.S. power.
Maj. Gen Zhu Chenghu, a professor at the National Defense University, made the remarks in an interview with Chinese-language Phoenix TV at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore Saturday.
He suggested that if China came to blows with any of its neighbors, the U.S. might not be a reliable ally.
“As U.S. power declines, Washington needs to rely on its allies in order to reach its goal of containing China’s development,” he told the TV station.
“But whether it will get involved or use military intervention once there is a territorial dispute involving China and its neighbors, that is another issue,” he added.
He said that this depended on the U.S. ability to project power, citing Ukraine as an example.
He said, “we can see from the situation in Ukraine this kind of ED” –which he explained in Chinese was a military abbreviation for something that may have meant “extended deployment” – “has become the male type of ED problem – erectile dysfunction.”