Beijing slams U.S. ahead of S. China Sea ruling

Official media warn that the U.S. should not confuse the South China Sea with the Caribbean

July 11, 2016 10:53 pm | Updated 10:53 pm IST - BEIJING:

A defiant China has warned the U.S. not to apply the Monroe doctrine in the South China Sea—hours before an international arbitration panel is to deliver its ruling, sought by the Philippines, on Beijing’s maritime claims in these waters. A Sunday commentary in Xinhua pointed out that the decision to drag Beijing to court was not about legality but, instead, a backdoor attempt by the U.S. to extend its geopolitical dominance in the Asia-Pacific.

The commentary warned that the U.S. should not confuse the South China Sea with the Caribbean, where its dominance has been repeatedly implanted by military force. On Tuesday, The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague is expected to deliver its ruling on a case lodged by Manila in 2013.

Challenging claims

The Philippines has argued that the China has violated the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, to which both countries are signatories. Consequently, China’s claims to much of the strategic waterway—a vital artery of global trade—have been strongly challenged. But on Friday, the Philippines quietly opened the diplomatic door for fresh talks, with officials belonging to President Rodrigo Duterte’s newly elected government offering Manila’s readiness to share natural resources with Beijing in the troubled waters of the South China Sea.

‘Pivot to Asia’

The Xihuna commentary attributes Washington’s behind-the-scenes and overt activism to its “Pivot to Asia” doctrine, widely viewed in Beijing as a formulation meant to contain China’s rise.

Looking back at the drama, it’s not difficult to see that the U.S. has played an important role in disturbing the once peaceful waters since it adopted a ‘pivot to Asia’ strategy,” the write-up observed. It then warned that the U.S. was making a futile attempt to conflate its experiences in the Caribbean in the South China Sea. It asserted that the U.S. military interventions, starring to 1895 in Cuba, to Grenada in 1983, with others such as Panama, and Nicaragua in between, have been well documented.

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