The editor-in-chief of The Global Times, a state-funded newspaper in China, asked Monday whether the United States is “mentally retarded” in rejecting Beijing’s extensive territorial claims in the South China Sea, a region with disputes over long standing between China and other Southeast Asian countries.
In a retweet of an article about the Washington statement, Global Times editor-in-chief Hu Xijin accused the United States of trying to provoke a conflict between China and neighboring nations.
“The United States issued the statement four years after the failure of the South China Sea. Washington has mental retardation and is slow in action? Xijin wrote. Who can’t see that you want to instigate the clash between ASEAN and China and make ASEAN the cannon fodder of the United States’ strategy against China? Do you think other people are stupid?
Xijin has earned a reputation over the years for his belligerent rhetoric and long-standing support for the Chinese Communist Party. He has been particularly outspoken in his opposition to pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, comparing them to ISIS terrorists.
In an editorial published last November, he told Hong Kong police that they have nothing to fear because they have the backing of “Chinese soldiers and the Hong Kong People’s Liberation Army” who can “provide support at any time.”
Xijin’s less-than-diplomatic rhetoric against Washington comes Monday amid Beijing accusing the United States of trying to sow discord between China and the Southeast Asian countries with which it has long-standing territorial disputes in waters that are at once a vital international shipping route and home to valuable fishing
“The United States is not a country directly involved in disputes. However, it has continued to interfere on the issue, ”the Chinese embassy in Washington said on its website. “Under the guise of preserving stability, she is flexing the muscles, causing tension and inciting confrontation in the region.”
United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in a statement released Monday, said the United States now considers virtually all Chinese maritime claims outside its internationally recognized waters to be illegitimate. The new position does not cover the characteristics of the land above sea level, which are considered to be “territorial” in nature.
Pompeo’s statement marks a major change in US policy in the South China Sea. Previously, the United States had only insisted that maritime disputes between China and its smaller neighbors be resolved peacefully through UN-backed arbitration.
Both Indonesia and the Philippines joined Pompeo in asking China to comply with a 2016 international arbitration court ruling that disqualified many of China’s claims.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian reiterated China’s position that it has had effective jurisdiction over the islands, reefs and waters of the South China Sea for more than 1,000 years.
China’s emergence as a military power and its ambitions to expand its reach on the high seas have conflicted with the United States, which has been the dominant naval power in the western Pacific in the post-World War II period.
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