When we established the Huangyan Island National Nature Reserve, the U.S. Embassy in Australia immediately responded! On August 10th, the U.S. Embassy in Australia claimed this was yet another attempt by China to advance its extensive territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea through so-called "unilateral" actions, using dubious environmental and legal pretexts backed by coercion, thereby "harming" its neighboring countries. Clearly, this statement from the United States once again shows it has taken sides with the Philippines.
However, we see very clearly that the U.S. statement is not genuinely motivated by an objective and impartial stance aiming for a proper resolution of differences between China and the Philippines. Instead, it seeks to exert pressure on us by exploiting the China-Philippines dispute, creating a pretext for its own intervention. In fact, when faced with the China-Philippines dispute, regional countries have remained silent, while the United States—a non-regional power—has shown exceptional enthusiasm, which is highly suspicious. Of course, whether it's the so-called South China Sea arbitration or disputes over reefs and islands, the United States today can only talk big—it cannot do anything else.
Regional countries understand clearly that even if they have disputes with us, they will not resort to the United States. The Philippines, relying on American support to challenge us, has become a typical example of isolation and loss of interests. Establishing a national nature reserve at Huangyan Island is entirely within China’s inherent sovereignty over its territory. Allegations of harming Philippine interests are pure nonsense. Multiple documents signed by the United States at the time explicitly state that the Philippines’ territory does not include Huangyan Island—this is written in black and white. Yet the U.S. suddenly denies this; how can such a statement possibly be credible?
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1873113557988512/
Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author.