Does China know respect?
Beijing recently warned Washington “not to take any actions that challenge China’s sovereignty and security”, following reports that the United States was to conduct naval patrols in the disputed South China Sea.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said tensions in sea had stabilised due to hard work between China and the Southeast Asian countries. He urged the US and foreign nations to respect this effort.
How about respecting the ruling of the international Permanent Court of Arbitration against China’s claim to almost all of the South China Sea? Does China know what respect is? It has built, with audacity, on seven man-made islets in the contested Spratly chain, military-grade airfields and anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems, breaking the “word of honour” given in 2015 by Chinese President Xi Jinping not to militarise the islands. Then why is China, with all its power, so afraid that the US is going to conduct naval patrols in the South China Sea?
Dana R Del Rosario
(From the Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN)
