US-China Relations - 130. page

The state media, the International Herald Leader, published a commentary in response to a statement that the U.S. State Department issued on August 3, 2012, regarding the South China Sea. The commentary accused the U.S. of attempting to sow discord in the region. “We are clear that the U.S. statement on the South China Sea sends out two messages: The first is to tell the Philippines and Vietnam that the U.S. is their back up and that they should not be afraid of confronting China; the second is to tell the ASEAN countries that, on the South China Sea issue, the U.S. has publicly come forward to speak out for them and that these countries should not hesitate; they should join together to face China without any fears or concerns about China."

The commentary further stated that the U.S. will very likely issue threats specific to those companies that may be interested in submitting bids to the state’s China National Petroleum Corporation for exploration in the South China Sea.

Source: International Herald Leader, August 17, 2012
http://ihl.cankaoxiaoxi.com/2012/0816/79199.shtml

Xinhua published a commentary following the public statement that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange made on the balcony of Ecuadorean Embassy in London on August 19, 2012. The article started with Assange’s statement that "he did not commit any crime; his suffering from persecution was due solely to his publicizing U.S. government documents on the Internet."

The article commented, “Why do the British police refuse to let go of this political asylum seeker who leaked secret (government documents) on the Internet? Digging deeper, there is actually a mystery here. Assange did not mention the United Kingdom, nor did he mention Sweden in his speech. Instead, he chose to talk at great length about the United States.”

“It appears Assange is clear-minded. He knows it is the enormous pressure from the United States that makes the United Kingdom and Sweden go after him so tenaciously.”

“It seems that (the application of) the so-called human rights and the rule of law varies from ‘person to person’ in countries such as the U.S. and Britain. The so-called ‘freedom of speech’ is not applicable to Assange.”

The article concluded that “Assange’s tragedy is that he has revealed U.S. secrets and exposed the ugly side of the United States. The mighty, powerful United States has always been tyrannous, so how can it swallow such a humiliation? The U.S. government wants to tell the world: Whoever dares to go against the United States, will be punished, even if he runs to the farthest corner of the earth. The United States is determined to declare war against those who dare to uncover the shady façade of the United States, to silence them and ‘disappear’ them. This probably is the root cause for Assange now being trapped in the Ecuadorean Embassy.”

Source: Xinhua, August 20, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2012-08/20/c_112785505.htm

Huanqiu published a commentary on the U.S. policy to contain China. It stated that this policy has motivated China’s neighboring countries, because of their own conflicts with China, to participate in the campaign to contain China. This is the geopolitical security challenge that China faces now. According to the commentary, the containment policy is a strategy of intimidation against China. It will harm both the United States and China and may lead to internal rifts within the camp that the United States leads. The containment strategy will exhaust the U.S. allies. China should use economic means to break the weak links among them and tire them out more quickly so that the allies will eventually abandon the United States. The containment strategy also increases the burden China faces when it has border disputes, trade disputes, and litigation. This, in turn, encourages political dissidents to create chaos and incites extremist forces, especially the ethnic separatists who make trouble by attacking China for its human rights abuses. All of this is done for the goal of derailing China’s development. “We should clearly recognize the essence of the problem so that, strategically, we remain stable; tactically, we are always able to handle the problem from the perspective of national security; and we finally hit the nail on the head.”

Source: Huanqiu, August 16, 2012
http://ihl.cankaoxiaoxi.com/2012/0814/78050.shtml

Major General Yin Zhuo, Director of the Experts Committee on Naval Information, made a guest appearance at the Powerful Nation Forum sponsored by People’s Daily. He exchanged ideas with Chinese Internet users about the plan that Japan and the United States have for their joint defense and how the plan relates to China’s national security. In talking about the unmanned reconnaissance aircraft that Japan and the U.S. use to monitor China’s marine activities, Yin said that the United States and Japan’s reconnaissance activities are a big threat to China during peacetime, but, when they come close to China during wartime, they will be vulnerable.

Source: People’s Daily, August 8, 2012
http://military.people.com.cn/n/2012/0808/c1011-18698296.html

Huanqiu (The Global Times, a publication under Xinhua) published an editorial following the U.S. State Department’s statement that publicly criticized China’s establishment of Sansha City and its creation of a new garrison in the South China Sea. The article stated, “It is well within China’s expectation that the U.S. is more and more obviously adopting a biased policy on the South China Sea issue that favors the Philippines and Vietnam. When the Philippines and Vietnam are more active, the U.S. remains relatively ‘neutral.’ When the Chinese take a little initiative, the U.S. immediately gives up its ‘neutral’ stand and jumps right in to ‘balance’ China. In general, the attitude of the U.S.  follows such a pattern.”

The article commented, “It is a fact that the U.S. is influential in the South China Sea, but it is also obvious that the U.S. cannot do what it wants. The Philippines and Vietnam has been very provocative and presumptuous toward China recently. It has already seen the potential impact of the United States. The era when the U.S. can blow up a storm in the South China Sea just by giving a mere hint is actually almost over.”

“The U.S. now openly condemns China’s establishment of Sansha City. It no longer has much influence. The U.S. may come up with sharper criticism in the future, but this will gradually be no more than trash talk. The actual impact (of the U.S.) on the South China Sea is decreasing.”

The article warned, “The South China Sea is not the Caribbean. Americans should be sober minded.”

Source: Huanqiu, August 6, 2012
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/1152/2012-08/2990673.html
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2012-08/06/c_123537467.htm

Xinhua published a commentary on U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Africa. According to the commentary, during her speech in Senegal, Secretary Clinton implied that China is only interested in Africa for its natural resources. The commentary declared that her statement was untrue and that the Western countries are the ones that plunder Africa for its resources. It went on to state that the motive for her trip was to sow discord between China and African nations, to discredit China-Africa cooperation, and to restrain China’s influence in Africa.

Source: Xinhua,  August 3, 2012 reprinted by cnfol.com, August 6, 2012
http://gold.cnfol.com/120806/171,1988,12930479,00.shtml

People’s Daily published a commentary criticizing the statement that the U.S. State Department issued on August 3, 2012, on the South China Sea. It called the U.S. statement self-conflicting. It stated that the tactics the U.S. used were intended to drive a wedge between all the parties involved and to stir up trouble. It affirmed that China’s intention is to cooperate with all parties to peacefully promote stability and prosperity in the region. What China does not want is for U.S. to stir up trouble with ulterior motives.

(Editor: An AFP article describes the statement made by U.S. State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell on August 3, 2012. Ventrell said, for example, that China’s actions, "run counter to collaborative diplomatic efforts to resolve differences and risk further escalating tensions in the region …”)

Source: People’s Daily, August 4, 2012
http://world.people.com.cn/n/2012/0804/c1002-18668096.html
AFP, August 4, 2012
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22574:-us-criticizes-new-china-garrison-in-tense-sea&catid=81:news&Itemid=625