U.S. should not muddy the waters over South China Sea

Edited and translated by People's Daily Online

On March 15, Lt. Gen. Burton Field, the commander of U.S. Forces Japan, gave a press conference in Tokyo, demanding China to respect the freedom of navigation and take responsible actions in the South China Sea. It is actually not a responsible action that a senior commander of the U.S. armed forces targeted China once again by taking the “freedom of navigation of the South China Sea” issue as an excuse.

What is a responsible action? Are the actions of the United States sailing its warships to the South China Sea, frequently holding military drills clearly against China with the countries around the sea and trying to form a military alliance with them responsible actions? Are the actions of the United States forcing Asian countries to take side between the United States and China and even deliberately smearing normal cooperation between China and its surrounding countries responsible actions?

The current South China Sea is calm and peaceful, and all countries, including the United States, can fully enjoy the freedom of navigation there. The U.S. commander has ignored a fundamental fact that the rapid economic development of the Asia-Pacific Region was and is closely connected with the freedom of navigation of the South China Sea. The rapidly expanding trade between the United States and the Asia-Pacific Region is also closely connected with the freedom of navigation of the sea.

However, while enjoying the freedom of navigation of the South China Sea, the United States also keeps making troubles and repeatedly throws out the “freedom of navigation of the South China Sea” issue. The United States is deliberately blurring the issue of the freedom of navigation and the issue of territorial sovereignty and is deliberately creating a type of public opinion to pave the way for implementing its strategy.