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| US Navy in the South China Sea: The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, the guided-missile cruiser USS Chosin, the guided-missile destroyers USS Sampson and USS Pinkney, and the guided-missile frigate USS Rentz operate in formation in the South China Sea. |
VietPress USA (May 21st, 2016): Ahead of the seventh ministerial conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum in Doha last week, Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China admitted that the US will remain the world's No. 1 power for a long time.
The transcript of the interview was released on Thursday night and the South China Morning Post just published on Friday. Wang Yi stressed global affairs should not be dominated by one country.
Wang made the
remarks during an interview with the Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera.
When asked
whether China, the world’s second largest economy, had prepared to replace a
declining US as global leader, Wang replied “from what we know about the
country, the US will probably remain the world’s No 1 for a fairly long time.”
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| US President Barack Obama |
Wang criticized Washington’s role in the South China Sea, blaming it for raising tensions in the disputed waters. Relations in the region, especially between the US and China, have become strained, with Washington accusing Beijing of militarizing the sea by creating artificial islands, some of them fortified. Wang Yi told that Beijing has strongly criticized the increased US naval patrols and exercises in its “pivot” to Asia.
Wang Yi said “This does not mean that the world can only be led by one country, which, in
fact, is simply impossible.” Wang Yi said every
country had the right to defend itself and it was “perfectly normal” for China
to set up self-defence facilities in the South China Sea while other nations
did likewise.
Wang Yi claimed that “Who is engaging
in massive military exercises in the region?” and said told “Who is sending a lot
of advanced weaponry to the South China Sea and building new military bases?
The answer is all too clear: the United States.”
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| China Foreign Minister Wang Yi visits Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong of Vietnam |
The remarks come
ahead of an expected ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague
in the coming weeks in a case launched by the Philippines contesting the
legality of China’s “nine-dash line” demarcating most of the South China Sea as
its territory. Beijing rejects the court’s authority and blames Manila for not
settling the disputes through bilateral negotiations.
“It is the
Philippines who still refuse to negotiate or consult with us,” Wang said,
adding that it was Manila’s actions that “lacked legality and legitimacy from
the very beginning.”
Wang denied China
would “fill the vacuum” in the Middle East after the US withdrew its forces
from the region. The people of those nations should work together for a better
future, he said, but other countries would help.
Wang Yi proposed to tie with Arab countries in Beijing’s “One Belt, One Road”
trade initiative linking China and east Asia with Europe.
Wang Yi addressed his remarks just some days before President Barack Obama will visit Vietnam from May 23 - 25, 2016 for binding up the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) and lifting off the hightech arms for Vietnam.
by Huyen Anh.
(Sources: Business Insiders and South China Morning Post,
oOo
VietPress USA
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