US destabilizing factor in Asia-Pacific: China Daily editorial

US soldiers operate the 155mm and 105mm Howitzers during a live fire exercise in the annual joint military exercises between US and Philippine troops called "Balikatan" or shoulder-to-shoulder, at Laoag, Ilocos Norte, Philippines, May 6, 2024. The provocative steps the US has taken include staging more frequent and increasingly sophisticated military exercises in the South China Sea and its incessant efforts to meddle in the Taiwan question, with the secessionist forces on the island being willing pawns in its games. Just a day prior to the People's Liberation Army starting naval exercises in the waters around Taiwan in a show of its resolve in response to the separatism-inflected inauguration speech of the island's new leader, the US and the Dutch navies conducted bilateral operations in the South China Sea. US "Indo-Pacific" Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo tried to pin the blame for the escalating tensions in the region on China, when he assumed office earlier this month, disingenuously claiming, "We must be ready to answer the PRC's increasingly intrusive and expansionist claims in the 'Indo-Pacific' region". This cannot but raise worries about what lies ahead in terms of Sino-US rivalry in the region, given that the US is upping its ante in challenging China's core interests concerning the Taiwan question and the South China Sea issues in the name of countering the alleged aggression from Beijing.