WASHINGTON, July 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Senate on Monday passed a resolution on the territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas, another move set to have negative ramifications on the renewed positive momentum in China-U.S. relations in recent months.
Disregarding the basic facts, the resolution bluntly "condemned" China for so-called "use of coercion, threats, or force" to assert territorial claims in the East and South China Seas. It reiterated the U.S. opposition to changing the status quo of the Diaoyu Islands, called the Senkakus by Japan, while reaffirming that the U.S.-Japan security treaty covers the group of rocky isles in the East China Sea.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and sponsor of the resolution, claimed that it was aimed at calling for a "peaceful resolution" of those disputes, which will affect the future of a region poised to serve as an epicenter for global economic development in the 21st century.
However, the resolution is apparently self-contradictory as it will further complicate the disputes rather than pave the way for their peaceful resolution.
China is the wrong party to blame for the rising tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, which were provoked by Japan in the case of the Diaoyu dispute, and by the Philippines in the case of the disputes in the South China Sea.
Last year, the Japanese government took a unilateral action to "nationalize" the Diaoyu Islands, which were historically part of China's territory, in an attempt to legalize its act of theft. This is the origin of the current tensions in the East China Sea, in which China has shown enough patience and restraint in its moves to protect its territorial integrity.
Factory explosion may stoke concern
Feedback
RSS
