Chinese state media on Tuesday rather unsubtly decided this would be a good time to chat with a panel of “experts” about the possibility of using an electromagnetic pulse weapon (EMP) against American ships that enter portions of the South China Sea illegally claimed by Beijing.

The timing suggests it was a bit of saber-rattling by a Communist Party nervous about its power and prestige after the Wuhan virus disaster, but some degree of escalation in the South China Sea has long been a concern for the U.S. Navy and ships from across the free world.

To put it bluntly, 

an EMP strike on U.S. warships would involve 

detonating a small nuclear warhead above them, 

but China’s state-run Global Times threw in some speculation about “low-energy laser devices” to keep their saber from rattling too loudly:

谷歌译文：

中国官方媒体周二相当含蓄地认为，这是与“专家”小组进行会谈的好时机，该专家小组可能会对在北京非法要求进入南海部分进入的美国船只使用电磁脉冲武器（EMP） 。

时机表明，这是共产党对武汉病毒灾难后的实力和威望感到不安的sa刀，但长期以来，南海在某种程度上的升级一直是美国海军和来自世界各地的舰船关注的问题。 自由的世界。

坦率地说，

对美国军舰进行EMP打击

将涉及引爆其上方的一个小型战术核弹头，

但中国国营《环球时报》引发了一些关于“低能激光设备”的

猜测，以防止其军刀过大地晃动。

周二（3月17日），中共通过其官媒含蓄地威胁，将使用电磁脉冲武器（EMP），攻击其所声称的“非法”穿越南海的美国军舰。美媒评论说，中共此举的目的之一，是为挽回其因中共肺炎而摧毁的所谓“威望”。

中共官媒《环球时报》周二援引中共军事专家的话报导，中共军方应使用非致命性的电磁脉冲及激光武器将美国军舰驱逐出有争议的海域。

周二，美军太平洋舰队在推特上宣布，美国海军“罗斯福号”（USS Theodore Roosevelt）航空母舰打击群、“美利坚号”（USS America）两栖攻击舰及其带领的远征打击群，正在南海进行演习。

太平洋舰队在一份关于演习的报告中说，这两个打击群的训练演习包括飞行演习、防空测试和地面支援任务演习。

报告称，海军陆战队在美舰“碉堡山号”（USS Bunker Hill）上进行了一次包含模拟访问、登船、搜索和扣押在内的军事演习。

中共声称对南海拥有90％的主权，尽管几年前国际法院的裁决已驳回该主张。大规模的军事演习在直接挑战中共的宣称。《环球时报》称，美军的演习标志着，在过去的一周中美舰已三次“入侵”中共的领海。

五角大楼已经一再表示将南海视为国际水域，并经常在该水域自由航行。

另外，3月10日及3月13日，美舰也曾穿越南海。

曾在中共导弹部队任职的中共军事评论员宋中平说，中共军方可以选择使用电磁脉冲武器及其它先进武器来对付美舰穿越南海。

他说，使用常规武器可能会引发冲突，不是好办法，而使用包括激光在内的电磁脉冲武器可能会暂时瘫痪美舰的武器控制系统。这不会产生明显的冲突，但可以发出强烈的警告。电磁武器发射的能量脉冲会干扰电子设备。

宋中平声称，2月17日发生的涉及一架美国海军P-8A海上巡逻机的激光事件，是该机对一艘中共军舰进行多次近距离侦察后发生的。

宋中平评论说：“这是一个很好的例子，可以更多地应用。”

一些分析人士认为，这篇带有威胁性的报导表明，中共可能准备在南海采取某种挑衅行动。

美媒布莱巴特新闻（Breitbart News）3月17日评论说，中共官媒发表这篇报导的时机也表明，在发生中共病毒的灾难后，已对自己的权力和威望感到紧张的中共有点剑拔弩张，但南海局势某种程度的升级，长期以来一直是美国海军和来自自由世界的船只所担心的。

该文还指出，《环球时报》对二月激光事件和其它类似事件的描述很不诚实，就像中共描述美国陆军实验室研发了中共病毒的谎言一样。中共2月17日对美国海军飞机的激光攻击是无端的，也是不专业、不安全的，明显违反了北京所认可的该地区的海商法和安全行为政策。

To counter US’ repeated trespasses into Chinese territorial waters, the Chinese military has the option of using new approaches, including the deployment of electromagnetic weapons, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and commentator, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Firing at US warships is not a good choice unless the US fires first, and that would result in the start of a China-US military conflict, Song said, noting that bumping into US ships might also not be a good counter, as lessons have been learned from the Black Sea bumping incident between the Soviet Union and US in 1988.

But the use of electromagnetic weapons, including low-energy laser devices, could be viable, as they can temporarily paralyze US ships’ weapon and control systems without visible conflict but can send a strong warning, according to Song.

Electromagnetic weapons can emit electromagnetic waves that can potentially jam electronic devices of target vessels and will not cause casualties, military observers said.

The US accused a Chinese destroyer of using lasers on February 17 on its patrol aircraft near Guam, even though it was the US aircraft that had initially conducted repeated close-in reconnaissance that interrupted the Chinese fleet’s normal navigation and training. This is a good example and could be applied more, Song said.

This is almost as dishonest a framing of the February laser incident, and others like it, as the Chinese fairy tale about a U.S. Army lab developing the coronavirus. The Chinese laser attack on a U.S. Navy aircraft flying over international waters on February 17 was unprovoked, unprofessional, unsafe, and a clear violation of both maritime law and safe-conduct policies for the region endorsed by Beijing.

These EMP threats were prompted by the most recent series of U.S. Freedom of Navigation operations (FONOP) in the South China Sea, which essentially involve sailing through waters claimed by China to demonstrate that international freedom of navigation will be protected. The Chinese are particularly exercised by the presence of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and its strike group in the region, and while the Global Times did not explicitly mention it, the USS Theodore Roosevelt’s visit to Vietnam was deeply troubling to Beijing.

“This is the third time in just a week US warships are known to have trespassed into the South China Sea: US guided missile destroyer McCampbell on March 10 trespassed into China’s territorial waters in the Xisha Islands, and amphibious assault ship America and littoral combat ship Gabrielle Giffords sailed in operations in the South China Sea on Friday,” the Global Times complained.

“Xisha Islands” is China’s name for the Paracel Islands, which the guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell sailed near on March 10. Vietnam and Taiwan both have claims in the Paracels. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) claimed it “warned” the American ship to leave, while the U.S. Navy said the ship completed its “security and stability operations” normally.

USS America and USS Gabrielle Giffords conducted joint operations in the South China Sea on Friday to test unified command and control and practice tactical maneuvers. The ships do not appear to have ventured into the waters claimed by China.

“By combining America’s lethality provided by the Navy-Marine Corps Team with the speed and maneuverability of a littoral combat ship, we’re forging new ways to operate together in one of the most important regions in the world,” Expeditionary Strike Group 7 commander Rear Adm. Fred Kacher said.

The PLA pulled a few deliberately provocative maneuvers of its own on Monday, sending a flight of warplanes across the Taiwan Strait in a rare night exercise. The Taiwanese scrambled their own fighters to “shadow, intercept, and disperse the Communist warplanes,” according to Taiwan’s defense ministry.

The South China Morning Post quoted analysts who said Beijing wanted to send one of its periodic threats to Taiwan while also demonstrating the coronavirus epidemic has not weakened the PLA:

“In addition to enhancing all-weather capability of its military fleet, the communist warplanes’ fly-by is aimed at sending out the message that it is business as usual with PLA war games despite the coronavirus outbreak in mainland China,” said Alexander Huang Chieh-cheng, a professor of international affairs and strategic studies at Tamkang University in Taipei.

He said the PLA’s night drill was also aimed at testing the response of forces such as the United States and telling them that the mainland’s air force can carry out night-time combat operations.

“Of course, it is also aimed at intimidating Taiwan,” Huang said.

The Global Times portrayed the night exercise as a warning to Taiwan that will become more frequent if “secessionist forces remain stubborn and continue their secessionist activities.”

The Chinese state newspaper curiously quoted only Taiwanese sources about the incident, but slipped in a comment from an unnamed “military expert” who said Monday’s flight was unprecedented proof that the PLA “is fully capable of launching military operations on the island at any time of a day.”

Chinese military experts on Tuesday suggested the use of non-lethal electromagnetic weapons, including low-energy laser devices, in expelling US warships that have been repeatedly intruding into the South China Sea in the past week.

Ships from the Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier strike group and America amphibious assault ship expeditionary strike group sailed together in the South China Sea on Sunday for expeditionary strike force drills, the US Pacific Fleet said on its Twitter account on Monday.

This is the third time in just a week US warships are known to have trespassed into the South China Sea: US guided missile destroyer McCampbell on March 10 trespassed into China's territorial waters in the Xisha Islands, and amphibious assault ship America and littoral combat ship Gabrielle Giffords sailed in operations in the South China Sea on Friday.

To counter US' repeated trespasses into Chinese territorial waters, the Chinese military has the option of using new approaches, including the deployment of electromagnetic weapons, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and commentator, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Firing at US warships is not a good choice unless the US fires first, and that would result in the start of a China-US military conflict, Song said, noting that bumping into US ships might also not be a good counter, as lessons have been learned from the Black Sea bumping incident between the Soviet Union and US in 1988.

But the use of electromagnetic weapons, including low-energy laser devices, could be viable, as they can temporarily paralyze US ships' weapon and control systems without visible conflict but can send a strong warning, according to Song.

Electromagnetic weapons can emit electromagnetic waves that can potentially jam electronic devices of target vessels and will not cause casualties, military observers said.

The US accused a Chinese destroyer of using lasers on February 17 on its patrol aircraft near Guam, even though it was the US aircraft that had initially conducted repeated close-in reconnaissance that interrupted the Chinese fleet's normal navigation and training. This is a good example and could be applied more, Song said.

The US side is using "freedom of navigation" as an excuse to repeatedly enter the South China Sea to flex its muscles and cause trouble, which are acts of hegemony that violate international law, threatening peace and stability in the region, People's Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command spokesperson Li Huamin said after the US naval activities on March 10, noting that the US warship was expelled by Chinese naval and aerial forces.

China has undisputed sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea and nearby waters, and the Chinese military remains highly vigilant at all times. It will take any necessary measure to safeguard national sovereignty, peace and stability in the South China Sea, Li said after that incident.

The PLA has yet to announce its response to the US activities on Friday and Sunday.

所以上次我们的军舰拦截它的时候，很多人吓得够呛，

我不知道做为中国人，你害怕什么？

我建议：如果美国军舰再到我们这个地方来，

我们应该出动两条军舰：一条军舰拦截它，一条军舰撞沉它！！

在我们的领海绝不允许美舰横行！谢谢！