Roundup: Western media pay little attention to details of South China Sea issue

Facts didn't seem to matter as Western media took the United States at its word when reporting on China's moves in the South China Sea, analysts have said.

Despite China's obvious goal to avoid conflict with some other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, Western media often argued that its land reclamation efforts in the Nansha Islands are stoking tension.

Greg Austin, a research fellow with the EastWest Institute in New York and visiting professor at the University of New South Wales, Canberra, said it is important for all sides to report in a balanced way what all parties concerned are doing.

"There's a little bit too much politicking, and too much propaganda in the current U.S. positioning and not enough attention to facts and details," he told Xinhua.

Often reported by Western media is China's "potential threat" to the annual trade travelling through the South China Sea worth 5 trillion U.S. dollars.

However, according to a defense white paper released by China, a high priority of the Chinese Navy is to protect international shipping, which has been confirmed by the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence, Austin said.

"It's a bit inexplicable that the Office of Naval Intelligence takes one position on what China's Navy's missions are, and the Pentagon takes a different position saying the opposite," he said.

"I think those are the sorts of facts that need to be reasonably reported," he added.

U.S. conservative publication Fox News stoked tension by reporting that China was militarizing the South China Sea after deploying air defense systems in the Xisha Islands, despite the fact that military assets have already been deployed on the island chain since 1974.

The Nansha Islands do contain limited necessary self-defense features consistent with protection afforded under international law, but these constructions are not the same "militarization" implicit in the increased U.S. naval activity that is upping the military ante.

"China's assertive actions in the South China Sea are cast as a growing threat to American interests, particularly the Pentagon and U.S. Navy," Sam Bateman, a maritime security expert and retired Royal Australian Navy Commodore, argued in a recent opinion piece.

"But, conversely, instability in the South China Sea helps the (U.S.) Navy justify its budget, particularly as it's the minor partner of the American Army and Air Force in both Syria and Ukraine. The South China Sea has become a major theater of operations for the U.S. Navy," he said.

In the opinion of Austin, tensions in the region are likely to become "a little bit more uncomfortable" in the short term when the court of arbitration rules on a case brought by the Philippines before they calm down.

"We can note for example the dispute in the East China Sea seems to have gone quiet for almost a year now, so why is that?" he said.

"There's several motives to the overall position of the United States in the region ... in regard to this alleged threat to commercial shipping which I don't believe exists," he noted. Endi