Xinhua recently published a commentary responding to the U.S. accusation about China’s militarization of the South China Sea. The United States mentioned several times recently that China has been deploying missiles on the Island of Yongxing. However, the commentary referred to an old Chinese saying to describe the U.S. as “the thief crying about theft,” meaning the United States has been the one frequently patrolling the region with its military forces. In the past year, the United States sent the P8 reconnaissance aircraft, B52 bombers, the USS Lassen Aegis destroyer, and the USS Curtis Wilbur missile destroyer to the South China Sea. The author expressed the belief that, if there is anyone who is militarizing the South China Sea and is exacerbating regional tensions, it is the United States. The commentary questioned the U.S. by asking why the U.S. has to send military vessels to the South China Sea instead of business vessels if the right the U.S. is trying to exercise is just freedom of navigation? The article ended with a call for an immediate stop to the U.S. saga of “muddying the waters.”
Source: Xinhua, February 19, 2016
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2016-02/19/c_1118102857.htm