War of words heats up with US over South China Sea disputes

Cary Huang in Beijing

Anger over Washington's renewed expression of a "national interest" in territorial disputes in the South China Sea is gathering momentum in Beijing, with the military's mouthpiece and army think tanks joining the chorus of opposition yesterday.

In a signed commentary, the People's Liberation Army Daily - an organ of the Central Military Commission - warned that Washington's involvement in regional territorial disputes was ill-intended.

Under the headline "Be alert to outside forces' involvement in issues of the South China Sea", the commentary urged Asian nations to be aware of traditional superpower tactics designed to maintain dominance in a disputed region.

Superpowers often adopted the strategy of "divide and rule", stirring up tensions, disputes and even conflicts before stepping in as a "mediator" or a "judge" in a bid to maximise their own interests, it said, citing British colonialism in the 19th century.

"Outside forces' involvement will only complicate the South China Sea issue and add difficulty to its solution," it said.

The commentary, written by a Xinhua journalist, was published by the army paper and posted on the official website of the Ministry of National Defence yesterday.

Washington issued a fresh challenge to Beijing last week by declaring the resolution of disputes in the South China Sea to be in the US "national interest", which exasperated some Chinese academics and media, as well as Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi . United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told regional counterparts at the Asean Regional Forum in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, that disputes in the strategically important sea were a "leading diplomatic priority" and "pivotal to regional security".

While she offered to help foster negotiations, her comments significantly raised Washington's involvement in an issue involving Chinese sovereignty claims.

Beijing reacted with strongly worded warnings that the region was among its "core interests", along with Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang .

In the South China Sea, China and Vietnam each claim the Spratly and Paracel archipelagos in their entirety, while the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei claim parts of the Spratlys. Claims by Taipei mirror Beijing's.

Potentially rich in oil and gas, both island groups straddle vital sea lanes linking Asia to Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

On Sunday, Yang warned the US against "internationalising" the neighbourhood dispute.

"It will only make matters worse and the resolution more difficult," he said in a statement posted on the Foreign Ministry's website.

Decrying what she called "coercion" in the region, Clinton called for the consistent application of international laws, especially the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Yesterday's commentary ridiculed Clinton, saying it was "ironic for the United States to ask others to abide by the UNCLOS" while itself not being a signatory to the treaty.

On Tuesday, the China Daily said the US was trying to "rekindle the feud" over territorial disputes in the region, a move that was "directed against China". On the same day, the Global Times, an affiliate of the People's Daily, a Communist Party mouthpiece, accused Washington of trying to incite hostility towards China.

The war of words is playing out as the US and South Korea wrap up the first phase of a controversial naval exercise in the Sea of Japan, known to Koreans as the East Sea.

Beijing recently protested over the joint military drill, which had been scheduled for the Yellow Sea, a marine gateway to the capital city.

On Monday, a forum held in Beijing by mainland international law experts and PLA think tanks concluded that China had the legal right to seal off the Yellow Sea if necessary, the Chinareviewnews online magazine said yesterday.

Artillery from the PLA's Nanjing military command held a live-ammunition rocket firing exercise on Sunday as the month-long US-South Korean drills began.

Amid the rising tension, a top US diplomat called for the resumption of military ties with China.

Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg said the lack of sustained military ties between the US and China was a key challenge for the two countries at a time of tensions in Asia.

China put military-to-military contact on hold earlier this year to express its anger at US arms sales to Taiwan.

"The most important [challenge] ? is the continued unwillingness of China to deepen the mil-mil engagement," Reuters quoted Steinberg as telling an audience at the Nixon Centre in Washington.