Ceritalah | Beijing must not be allowed to bully Southeast Asian nations in the South China Sea
- President Xi Jinping risks forgetting the lessons of the late Deng Xiaoping by seeking to manipulate other countries
- Chinese trade and investment notwithstanding, Southeast Asian countries care just as much about territorial integrity as the Chinese
Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are the two biggest threats to global peace today. They’re both bullies, terrorising their respective “schoolyards”: Latin America as well as the Middle East in Trump’s case and Southeast Asia in Xi’s.
Trump’s ignorance, malevolence and bigotry have always been there to see. It’s easy to dismiss his adventurism and bravado against Iran as an attempt to distract from his impeachment.
Xi is infinitely more sinister. Back in 2016, the world’s leaders looked to Beijing as an alternative hub – for a principled, even-handed approach to global economics and politics.
Given such an environment, global trust and respect for rules have collapsed. Both the US and China disdain diplomacy. Why bother showing mutual respect when blunt force is more effective? This is classic bully behaviour.
Nearly one-third of the world’s shipping passes through the South China Sea, worth some US$3.37 trillion each year. Its waters contain potential energy reserves of 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 11 billion barrels of oil.