How many steps are there between an “ominous warning” and a “final warning”?

calling it a “big provocation” in a headline on Monday before referring to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Is that all? I would have hoped they would have quoted the article more extensively than just ‘big provocation’.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

The Global Times, a nationalistic tabloid published by the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda arm, at once downplayed and reacted furiously at the recent announcement by Gen. Charles Flynn, commander of the U.S. Army’s forces in the Pacific, calling it a “big provocation” in a headline on Monday before referring to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Something akin to the Cold War’s arms race is brewing in the Indo-Pacific region, where American defense planners have identified China as the nation’s long-term security threat—a “pacing challenge,” in the Pentagon’s words.

The Global Times newspaper, citing Chinese military commentator Song Zhongping, said the U.S. missiles would be “easier to intercept” and were, therefore, not a major threat.

“However, the move is a big provocation politically, as it means the U.S. has completely abandoned the treaty and is deploying missiles at China’s doorstep,” Song told the party paper.

President Xi Jinping has set himself apart from past leaders in Beijing by expanding and modernizing the Chinese military to assert coercive or actual control over the country’s various territorial claims, chiefly Taiwan.

Song, the commentator, told the Global Times that new U.S. capabilities in the region could be turned against Beijing’s People’s Liberation Army in the event of a conflict.

The original article contains 691 words, the summary contains 204 words. Saved 70%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!