Barack Obama has thrown a damp towel over warming relations between China and its neighbors with a funny theory about China being a bully in the South China Sea.
Visiting Jamaica, the U.S. president said Washington is "concerned" China is using its "sheer size and muscle" to force countries into subordinate positions.
Concurrently, Vietnamese Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong is paying a visit to China. In talks with Chinese leaders, Trong said the two nations should carry on a "brotherly and comradely" relationship. This can hardly be characterized as a subordinate relationship.
Claims that China is elbowing aside the Philippines or Vietnam sound silly and ignorant, but they do not come as a surprise, as Washington's propaganda merchants never miss an opportunity to hype up a "China threat" and try to pit countries against China, an imaginary opponent threatening U.S. supremacy in global politics and military affairs.
Talking about muscle, the United States is undoubtedly much stronger than China. Taking a general view on provocative U.S. comments about the South China Sea, it's more the case that the world's biggest muscleman has always bullied China, which is struggling to safeguard its own sovereignty.
Washington has repeatedly breached its commitments of not taking sides over tensions in the South China Sea. Moreover, it has practised double standards regarding the construction works by China and other countries in the Nansha Islands, despite China having clarified its land reclamation is aimed at defense and improving civilian services.
Obama said, "We think this [issue] can be solved diplomatically". While he is thinking about diplomacy, China is practising it.
Nguyen Phu Trong's China visit at the invitation of President Xi Jinping, as the Vietnamese side said, has been a great success. Trong and Chinese leaders have had in-depth, frank discussions, and reached important common understanding on some major orientations and measures.
Through friendly discussion, the two sides are making their relationship more healthy, stable and sustainable. There is no dispute that can't be solved with such sincere, independent communication.
As an outsider, the United States should respect China's sincerity in solving the disputes through direct negotiation with the countries concerned and do more to contribute to regional peace and stability, rather than stir the quiet waters by mischief-making words and deeds.
