An editorial titled ‘Blustering US a paper tiger in S China Sea’ in the state-run Global Times said that the US has voiced the strongest support for the verdict against China on Tuesday by The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.The strongly-worded editorial came as China asserted that it would not abide by the verdict, which quashed its claims on parts of the South China Sea on the basis of historic rights.
Branding the US and Japan as “paper tigers” and “eunuchs,” China’s state media today said that the military should remain ready for “counter attack” if American warships hold exercises near islands claimed by Beijing in the South China Sea to enforce the UN-backed tribunal’s verdict. This state run daily is known for its nationalistic rhetoric.
“More politicians and congressmen from the House and Senate have also made fierce remarks, demanding regular challenges to China’s excessive maritime claims through naval and air patrols. Japan’s stance is precisely the same as that of the US, as if they have discussed their lines,” it said.
The tabloid daily said that the attitude of the Philippines – which filed the petition against China at the tribunal – is relatively less reactionary as it merely calls for restraint.
The editorial described an old Chinese saying which says that ‘the emperor doesn’t worry but his eunuch does,’ and means that the outsider is more anxious than the player. In this case, Washington and Tokyo are the worrying eunuchs in question. It further stated that the People’s Liberation Army should enhance its military deployment in the waters of the Nansha Islands and be fully prepared to counterattack if the US makes further provocations.
While a direct confrontation was looked at as undesirable, it explicitly stated that if Washington wishes for the same, China will not flinch. Many Chinese scholars believe that after the final award, the issue will gradually cool down and if there are no big moves from Manila, Washington and Tokyo, the case will ‘literally become nothing but a piece of paper.’
Yesterday, China flew two civilian aircraft to assert its claim to the artificial islands built in the disputed area. It successfully tested two new airfields on the disputed islands with civil flights a day after an international tribunal struck down Beijing’s claims over the region. With this, the number of airfields open to civil aircraft has gone up to three, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea over which the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have rival claims. Another state-run newspaper ‘China Daily’ called the verdict a “travesty of international justice”.
(With agency inputs from PTI)
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