The sudden aggressiveness shown by the U.S. Navy in the South China Sea, and bold moves by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia asserting their individual claims to this strategic area aren't isolated incidents but are coordinated moves in an anti-China plot hatched by the United States, abetted by the United Nations, according to a Chinese academic.
This claim was made by Dr. Wu Shicun PhD in an opinion piece entitled "New changes in South China Sea worrisome" published Tuesday in the China Military Online website. Wu is president and senior research fellow of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, and chairman of Board of Directors of China-Southeast Asia Research Center on the South China Sea.
Wu said he expects "worrying new changes" this year in the South China Sea. He estimated the situation will turn from "stabilizing" to "turbulent" as the U.S. proceeds to militarize the South China Sea.
Evidence of this militarization are the naval combat drills currently being conducted by two U.S. Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carriers: the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) and USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76).
These powerful warships lead their individual carrier strike groups (CSGs) consisting of escorting destroyers, cruisers, submarines and supply ships. The Navy said both CSGs are carrying out operations and exercises to support a free and open Indo-Pacific.
Wu calls this drill, the first in recent years for the U.S. Navy, "the most significant symbol of its (the United States') determination" to oppose China's claim to own most of the South China Sea.
In addition to five other FONOPs (freedom of navigation operations) carried out by the U.S. Navy in the South China Sea this year, the drills being staged by both carriers proves "U.S. military operations in the South China Sea are more aggressive and provocative than ever before," said Wu.
"The U.S. is the biggest threat to stability in the South China Sea and the biggest black hand that provokes the 'militarization of the South China Sea'," he wrote.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic sweeping through the U.S. has not deterred the country's leaders from slowing down its military operations in the South China Sea. Instead, the U.S. has intensified its military presence in the South China Sea issue to contain China.
The U.S., however, can't do this alone. It needs Asian allies and Wu said Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia are working with the U.S. to assail China on multiple fronts.
The ringleader of this group of anti-China countries is Vietnam, according to Wu. The strategic relationship between Vietnam and the U.S. is strengthening, as is America's relationship with the Philippines despite the reputation of president Rodrigo Duterte as a stooge of China.
Wu said some claimant countries have used ongoing consultations about the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) to consolidate and expand vested interests with unilateral actions. The COC consultations are now in limbo due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wu claims the provocative and dangerous actions against China "are either instigated by the U.S. or backed by the U.S." U.S. interference can even been seen in the COC consultations.
Proof of U.S. perfidy, says Wu, is the diplomatic note war ignited by Malaysia's submission of an extended shelf claim in the South China Sea to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) in 2019.
