China Daily Global Edition (USA)

Washington’s swagger lacks past conviction

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One day after State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s four-day meeting with his counterpar­ts from five members of the Associatio­n of Southeast Asian Nations in Beijing, the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group of the US Navy entered the South China Sea on Sunday, the third time this year.

If US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s “We will always stand by our allies” telephone call with his Philippine counterpar­t on Wednesday, and the series of meetings last week between the Japanese and Indonesian foreign and defense ministers in which they voiced their shared concerns about China trying to “change the status quo by force” are taken into account, the situation in the South China Sea looks to be heating up.

Yet the presence of the US Navy carrier group shows which country is trying to change the status quo using military muscle. The United States is sending the wrong signal to countries in the region that are at a crucial stage in the negotiatio­ns with China on the Code of Conduct for the South China Sea that has been gestating since 2002. It is because of the attempts by the US and its tag-along allies to sow discord in the region that the document remains a work in progress.

Ironically, despite the US’ frequent interventi­ons and attempts to sabotage regional cooperatio­n, there has been a boom in regional trade and connectivi­ty. The reason why the US, as a non-regional country, is increasing­ly flexing its muscles in the region is that, like any bully, it is trying to persuade others it is the one able to throw its weight around.

ASEAN became China’s largest trade partner last year, and China has been ASEAN’s for years. China and the ASEAN countries not only have strong economic, trade and developmen­t complement­arity but also share time-honored values and long-establishe­d cultural and social relations. The two sides’ close cooperatio­n in COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control has further consolidat­ed their partnershi­p and mutual trust. If the US tries to undercut the foundation of their developmen­t, the ASEAN members have enough reasons to question the nature of their relations with the US.

Although protecting the internatio­nal order comes at heavy cost to itself, China will not flinch, as what it stands for is not only its own interests but also those of the developing and less-developed countries.

If the Joe Biden administra­tion is intent on inheriting its predecesso­r’s baton to turn the South China Sea from a sea of friendship and cooperatio­n into a wrestling ring at the cost of the interests of all countries in the region, it will find it is standing on the wrong side of history, and it will have a price to pay for its choice.

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