Is China the victim of a campaign mounted by the
United States to turn the nations adjacent to the South China Sea against
Beijing? According to columnist Liang Fengming of China's state-run Huanqui,
the U.S. is seeking to demonize China by inflaming territorial disputes between
China and other states like Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, South Korea and
others - which are none of America's business.
On June 21, the U.S. and Japanese governments publicized their so-called
common strategic objectives, which explicitly called on China to stop "obstructing"
shipping in the South China Sea.
In regard to interfering with the freedom of
navigation in the South China Sea, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that China
is simply upholding its sovereign and maritime rights in accordance with international
law, which doesn't affect any other country's freedom of navigation. So as far as this so-called freedom of navigation - there are
no such problems.
This is the truth. As one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, over
40,000 vessels travel through the South China Sea safely and unimpeded every
year. There has never been a single incident of China obstructing normal
navigation. There is clearly no basis in fact to this accusation.
Moreover, the United States and Japan have satellites and ocean-going vessels with
the world's most powerful intelligence-gathering capabilities, so are well
aware of the ease and freedom with which they navigate. Therefore, frankly speaking, they
have ulterior motives for making such a fuss and hurling accusations at China
to stop "obstructing" their nation's ships.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
Those who are impeding freedom of navigation in the South
China Sea are not from China, but are precisely those who have made a habit of
blaming others. This can be demonstrated by a fact: every year, the U.S. doesn't
hesitate to zip around for thousands of miles every year, sending all kinds of
military surveillance ships, survey vessels and spy planes to vigorously
monitor activity in the South China Sea in order to gather intelligence on the
surrounding countries and undermine regional peace and stability. If we weren't so forgetful,
we would recall that last year, it was the United States who traveled from far
and wide to China's door step to hold joint military exercises; it is also the
United States that frequently touts the excuse of "freedom of navigation"
to use its huge aircraft carrier battle groups in the South China Sea and adjacent
waters to tyrannize and intimidate countries adjacent to it …
Competing
territorial claims in the South China Sea: China sees
the
United States meddling, whereas other nations in the region
In regard to the issue of freedom of navigation in the
South China Sea, the U.S. doesn't hesitate to openly distort the truth and fabricate
rumors to discredit China, but it isn't as simple as deliberately provoking
China. On the one
hand, there is indeed a dispute in the region of the South China Sea. The U.S.
is "forming cliques" and "speaking out on
a matter of principle" to oppose the Chinese side undoubtedly so that otherASEAN countries favor American intervention
in their local affairs. On the other hand, by vigorously advocating a "threat to the freedom of navigation and
security in the South China Sea," the U.S. has
given the international community a false impressionof the worrying situation in the South China Sea.
As a footnote, some Western politicians have fabricated the idea of the "China threat" to drive a wedge
between China and other Southeast Asian nations as a way of restraining China's
development. The United States doesn't listen to China's advice and does
everything possible to make the South China Sea issue international and
multilateral; this is precisely Washington's purpose.
The South China Sea issue is a regional affair.
International practice shows that the best solution is for parties to a dispute
to find a resolution through bilateral negotiations. Asia is on the rise and
Asian countries have the capacity to resolve their own concerns. U.S. interference
in this issue only makes things more complicated and difficult to resolve. But
this is consistent with how the U.S. has always behaved. As an American historian on early
20th century U.S. diplomacy put it: "to pursue expansionism, the American
empire has always considered itself the guardian of international order; but
wherever they went, they created more turmoil and confusion."
I believe this is the voice of experience.
The
actions of the United States in the South China Sea once again prove that
despite China's peaceful development, which has become a mainstream movement in the world and
is widely recognized by most countries, the U.S. continues to cling to
its Cold War mentality and the logic that the "most powerful must dominate."
It is conceited, excludes outsiders and cannot tolerate China's growing national
strength, regional influence and reasonable growth.
As China continues to rise, we are destined to face more such criticism and
challenges. In this regard, we must be vigilant, and also prepared.
