THE China accused the United States today of using the law to “consolidate its hegemony” in response to criticism leveled at Beijing by US Vice President Kamala Harris, who is visiting Singapore.
During a visit to Asia as Washington sought to strengthen its alliances with China, Harris today accused Beijing of pressuring and intimidating countries in the South China Sea region.
“Beijing continues to exert pressure, intimidate and make claims in virtually the entire South China Sea,” he said in a speech outlining the Biden government’s foreign policy in Asia.
“They invoke the law to justify their selfishness”
“The United States can intimidate, pressure and intimidate other countries without paying the slightest price,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin was quoted as saying, referring to the US intervention in Afghanistan.
“The United States always invokes the law to justify its selfishness and consolidate its hegemony,” he told a news conference.
“But how many people believe it (yet)?” he wondered, citing the situation in Afghanistan which clearly shows, as he said, what the law is according to the United States.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea, a maritime zone with significant resources through which much of world trade passes.
But four Southeast Asian countries, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, as well as Taiwan, have competing claims to sovereignty in the zone.
Beijing has been accused of developing military equipment, including rocket launchers, and of ostentatiously ignoring a 2016 international court ruling that ruled most of its historic claims were unfounded.
Tensions between Beijing and countries disputing its maritime claims have worsened in recent months.
Kamala Harris’ visit to Asia follows that of Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin last month, who has also been sharply critical of Chinese claims in the disputed zone.
But the crisis in Afghanistan has cast doubt on the credibility of US support for their (US) partners and cast a shadow over Kamala Harris’ visit to Southeast Asia.
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