Text Fwd: [Liu Feitao] Asia-Pacific Military Dominance: U.S. Makes Waves In South China Sea [리우 피타오] 미국, 남중국해에서 불안을 일으키다

* Image: same as the link

'Illustration: Liu Rui'

* Text informed from Rick Rozoff on Nov. 8, 2010

Stop NATO
Global Times
November 8, 2010
US making waves in South China Sea
By Liu Feitao

-The freedom of navigation which the US claims to protect is actually the freedom of the US military to threaten other countries....In advocating that free and safe navigation in South China Sea is threatened, the US is creating a false impression of a worrying situation of South China Sea to the international community. It boosts the "China threat theory" claimed by some Western politicians, distances the relations between China and Southeast Asian countries and creates new leverage to contain China's development.

Since July, US politicians such as President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates have frequently mentioned on various public occasions the issue of free and safe navigation in South China Sea.

They claim that maintaining free navigation in the South China Sea is in the US national interest and oppose any actions obstructive to free navigation. If one listens to them, the South China Sea no longer seems calm and tranquil.

But there is no threat to free navigation in the South China Sea. Maintaining free navigation and ensuring a smooth trade flow is in line with the globalization era, which has already become an international consensus.

Those who act against free navigation, such as pirates and maritime terrorists, have become the enemy of all, as the traditional legal description of pirates goes, and are opposed by every nation.

The South China Sea is one of the world's busiest shipping channels with more than 40,000 vessels per year passing through.

If there were really problems, how could so many ships sail through the South China Sea frequently, safely and smoothly?

The answer is self-evident. The US is beating the drum on an issue which doesn't really exist.

Behind its high-sounding words, what exactly are US intentions?

The first aim is to maintain US military hegemony in Asia-Pacific region.

The US has been sending a variety of military surveillance ships, observation boats and survey ships to launch probes and collect national information in the South China Sea for years. It seriously threatens the security and interests of surrounding countries and undermines regional peace and stability.

Facing international opposition, the US deliberately altered the concept and then created the pseudo-proposition of free navigation in the South China Sea, trying to shape international public opinion and force littoral countries and regions to accept its increasing military detection activities.

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See also (* Text informed from Corazon Valdez Fabros on Nov. 8, 2010)

Focus News Agency
New U.S. strategy to step up military presence in Asia-Pacific after reviews concluded that U.S attempts to project power from North America were not working :Australia, U.S. agree to major escalation of military co-operation
06 November 2010

Canberra. Australia has agreed to a major escalation of military co-operation with the U.S., Xinhua informed.

According to The Weekend Australian newspaper, the move will include more visits by American ships, aircraft and troops and their forces exercising.

Access to Australian Defense Force facilities will allow the U. S. to step up its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region, and increased numbers of U.S. personnel in Australian facilities were expected within months, the paper wrote.

Three big announcements on military and security co-operation will be made after Monday's Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) defense and foreign policy talks in Melbourne of Australia.

The AUSMIN will be attended by delegations headed by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Australia's Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd and Defense Minister Stephen Smith.

The Australian newspaper on Saturday said the Australian development is part of a new U.S. strategy to step up its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region, after reviews of strategic policy concluded that the U.S. government's attempts to project power from North America were not working.