US needs to readjust attitude regarding South China Sea issue

Outside the binding UNCLOS treaty, the United States secures the free movement of its maritime force by unilateral actions, which essentially violates smaller countries' sovereignties or interests.

The superpower claimed that its military presence in the South China Sea aims to protect its allies like Japan and the Philippines given the escalating tension in the region.

The regional tension, for which Washington blamed Beijing, has in fact been created by the United States itself.

Combining its China containment policy with the Rebalance to the Asia-Pacific strategy, the United States has deployed a large number of warships in the region and carried out joint military drills near the South China Sea.

The US attitude of seeing China as the major challenger and impeding China's rise determines how it reacts to the South China Sea issue.

Clear-headed observers have seen through this.

What the United States is doing in the South China Sea reflects a dangerous "psychology of the empire," said the renowned American constitutional lawyer Bruce Fein.

The US actions there by themselves will lead to no results, except for generating tensions and sending wrong signals to some Asian countries, Fein added.

US support of the arbitration, unilaterally proposed by the Philippines, has contradicted Washington's position not to take sides on the South China Sea issue, said William Jones, Washington bureau chief of US publication Executive Intelligence Review.

The United States should understand that it is only promoting regional conflicts to cover up its political interests under the guise of international law. To play a constructive role in the Asia-Pacific region, Washington needs to readjust its attitude.