Commentary: Washington's trick of "thief crying stop thief" on South China Sea
Xinhua, April 11, 2015 Adjust font size:
The United States, the world's leading superpower which believes policing the world is its destiny, sometimes however seems to have a penchant for playing the trick of thief crying "stop, thief."
On Thursday, U.S. President Barack Obama said his country is concerned that China is using its "sheer size and muscle" to bully smaller claimants such as the Philippines and Vietnam in the South China Sea disputes.
"We think this can be solved diplomatically, but just because the Philippines or Vietnam are not as large as China doesn't mean that they can just be elbowed aside," Obama told reporters while on a visit to Jamaica.
Such finger-pointing laid bare again the mind-boggling hypocrisy of the United States, which takes habitual tactics of standing facts on their heads as well as blame-shifting.
Arbitrarily exercising its mighty military power, the United States is the real bully in the world who has rarely missed an opportunity to stoke tensions between China and its neighbors.
Just as Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Friday, "everybody can see who has the biggest size and muscle in the world."
China is "elbowing aside" no one by carrying out construction and maintenance work on some islands and reefs in the Nansha Islands, which fall entirely within its sovereignty.
It is the United States that has been busy elbowing countries like the Philippines into deliberate and serious provocations against China, triggering conflicts and undercutting regional stability.
As a matter of fact, Washington has long been adopting double standards on this issue, as it chooses to totally ignore the building work by other countries on islands owned by China, while showing "concerns" over China's activities on islands and reefs over which it has indisputable sovereignty.
China has reiterated its adherence to the path of peaceful development and a defensive national defense policy, stressing that the construction work is "not targeted against any country."
As a friendly gesture, the Chinese government has also disclosed the full details of the construction work on its territory to reassure its neighbors and remove understandings.
However, the United States seems to have been turning a blind eye towards China's sincerity and ceaseless efforts to solve disputes through friendly negotiations with countries concerned.
China sincerely hopes that the United States can genuinely do its part to promote peace and stability in the region.
If it is just hard for Uncle Sam to stop bullying others and play a constructive role, it can at least cease acting as the only righteous judge and blaming those who actually fall victim to its daunting "size and muscle." Endi