China Furious At U.S. Marine General's Remarks That The Corp Would Retake The Senkakus From China If Ordered To Do So

Photo: Lt. Gen. John Wissler, the commanding general of III Marine Expeditionary Force, speaks on the telephone from an office at Camp Courtney, Okinawa, on Dec. 6, 2013. Anthony Kirby/U.S. Marine Corps

China Boast: U.S. Marines Would Be Like ‘Marching Band’ In All Out Fight -- Washington Times

A casual remark by a U.S. general during a breakfast has made China mad, really mad, and Beijing’s response is far less than civil and humble.

On April 11, Marine Corps Lt. Gen. John Wissler, commander of the 18,000 Marines in Okinawa, Japan, told reporters at a Washington breakfast meeting that the Marines in the Pacific would quickly retake the Senkaku island group and return it to Japan if China were to invade it.

The statement was nothing new, as U.S. officials from the president on down repeatedly have told the Chinese that the United States would fulfill its defense treaty obligations to help Japan militarily in any conflict with China over the islands.

What apparently incensed the Chinese was what Gen. Wissler said next: “You wouldn’t maybe even necessarily have to put somebody on that island until you had eliminated the threat, so to speak.”

The Chinese military is supremely confident of its invincibility in the Pacific and is taking Gen. Wissler’s remark as a great insult.

The first return salvos were fired by the Communist Party-owned and operated newspaper Global Times.

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My Comment: The general's remarks that got China all upset can be read here. As to what is my own take on this "war of words" .... it is clear that Marine Corps Lt. Gen. John Wissler got under some Chinese skins, and the fact that he is not taking the bait to respond is probably making some of them even more upset.