29 August 2020
- RSIS
- Media Mentions
- US Destroying Peace, Stability in South China Sea, says China
US Destroying Peace, Stability in South China Sea, says China
Washington is destroying peace and stability, and stirring trouble in the South China Sea, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said. His comments came after the US’ guided missile destroyer USS Mustin carried out a freedom of navigation operation near the Paracel Islands, where the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is carrying out an exercise from Sunday to today.
Dr Collin Koh, a Research fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, RSIS in Singapore, called this a “contestation of narratives” between Beijing and Washington. So while tensions are rising in the South China Sea, actual conflict is unlikely as the party that fires the first shot would lose the moral high ground, he said. “China certainly wants to gain the upper hand when it comes to the moral high ground, it wants to be painted as the victim and paint the US as the aggressor.”
IDSS / Online / Print
Last updated on 01/09/2020
