US Has No Right to Comment on China’s South China Sea Construction

Several days ago, the United States pointed to Chinese island building in the South China Sea as being responsible for exacerbated tensions in the region. But a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson responded yesterday, saying that U.S. assumptions about Chinese construction in the South China Sea are unfounded. In fact, in recent weeks and months the United States has infringed upon China’s sovereignty in the South China Sea with increasing boldness and has encouraged other nations to provoke China, making the United States the primary source of the problems threatening peace and stability in the South China Sea. China’s construction in the South China Sea is its own sovereign affair, and the United States has no place to comment.

As the “pivot to Asia” marches on at a quickened pace, U.S. military operations against China in the South China Sea have grown in frequency. Earlier, it was only U.S. warships sailing close by the Spratly Islands; now, the U.S. military has deployed its most advanced anti-submarine surveillance planes to carry out low-altitude flyovers of the islands being built by China. The U.S. media claims that America’s aim in executing the flights is to show China in no uncertain terms that “the U.S. does not recognize China’s territorial claims.”

The U.S. military’s repeated close-range surveillance operations are a bare-faced challenge to Chinese sovereignty. They hope to use China’s island construction in the South China Sea to reinforce the “China threat theory” and foment discord between China and its neighbors, thus eliciting more proactive cooperation with U.S. efforts to surround and contain China.

China’s island construction projects within the South China Sea not only are being conducted within the bounds of the “nine-dash line,” but are furthermore being done on islands that China currently exercises real control over. Their objective is to provide maritime search and rescue, disaster prevention and shipping security services within the South China Sea to better fulfill China’s international responsibilities and duties, and as the construction is peaceful and mutually beneficial in nature, there is no legal or rational basis for criticism. China insists on resolving territorial disputes in the South China Sea through negotiation. The United States, however, has donned the cap of world police and deployed military aircraft and ships to engage in risky operations around China’s islets, becoming the true source of danger in the region.

China places great value on peace and stability within the South China Sea, as this is in alignment with its fundamental interests and those of all other nations in the region. As to the U.S. military’s frequent provocations, China has issued systematic and tiered warnings, and the entire world should be able to assess who is making an effort to maintain peace and who is intentionally creating conflict. China pursues a peaceful foreign policy, but will absolutely not barter away its territorial sovereignty for peace; it will not start trouble, but neither will it shy away from a fight. China is well prepared for any changes to the situation in the South China Sea, with peace for its friends, and resistance to its enemies. Not long after the new China was established, the Chinese army dared to step outside its borders to defend home and country in a contest of strength against the United States, giving them a taste of Chinese military might. And now that China’s strength is worlds removed from that of the past, it is wholly capable of adopting all necessary methods of self-defense to drive back those who would encroach upon its sovereignty.