Xinhua: Obama’s Legacy of Hegemony

On December 20, 2016, Xinhua published a commentary in which it rejected the U.S. explanation that its two B-52 bombers didn’t intend to fly over China’s artificial island in the South China Sea. Xinhua questioned “a series of dangerous actions” that the U.S. had carried out in “its recent show of force” in the South China Sea. Xinhua also rebutted the U.S. explanation by citing the recent U.S. arms sale to Taiwan. It said this act “flagrantly violated international law and the norms governing international relations, severely violated the three Sino-US joint communiques, … and caused severe damage to China’s sovereignty and security interests as well as cross-strait relations [with Taiwan].” Xinhua further complained that the U.S. Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) excluded China. “People will ask what Washington is truly up to. What does Obama, who will bid farewell to the White House next year, want to leave behind as his diplomatic legacy? [The core of his legacy] is his thinking about ‘hegemony.’