Karim Raslan

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

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Conflicting claims in the South China Sea have prompted protests in Vietnam. Photo: Reuters

Karim Raslan

Published: 12:00pm, 13 Jan 2020Updated: 12:10pm, 13 Jan 2020

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.

Instead, China under Xi has forgotten all the lessons of the late Deng Xiaoping. The Middle Kingdom is as thuggish and contemptuous of smaller states as the US. His regime brandishes its “Century of Humiliation” at the hands of the West as an excuse to manipulate other countries. For example, Xi passes off his aggressive actions in the South China Sea as part of China’s “peaceful rise to power”.

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.

How else does one explain China’s growing belligerence in the South China Sea and the nearby Natuna Islands, which are part of Indonesia’s Exclusive Economic Zone? Beijing earlier this month sent not only fishing fleets but also coastguard vessels to stake its claim.

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.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo visits the Natuna Islands. Photo: Instagram

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

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