Is China behaving arrogantly?
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Despite formal objections by the Chinese government and the clearly expressed unhappiness of the Chinese people, the United States has insisted on participating in a series of joint naval exercises in the Yellow Sea. It called China's objections to the exercises an "overreaction" and "arrogant".
Every country has right to conduct military exercises, and it is by no means the first time the U.S. has carried out such drills; so why are the exercises attracting so much attention this time round?
On the face of it, the exercises were intended to send a "strong signal" to Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to deter "provocative acts" like the alleged attack on the Cheonan. But the real reasons were that the ROK wanted to put pressure on the DPRK, while the U.S. wanted to send a clear message to all Northeast Asian countries that it remains the greatest military power on earth and retains its preeminence in the Asia-Pacific region. The exercises were also intended to convey some kind of warning to China.
Why would the U.S. want to send a warning to China?
The Cheonan incident raised tensions in Northeast Asia. China's response was to call on all parties to maintain calm and to prevent the situation getting out of control. The U.S., on the other hand, sought to use the incident to seek strategic advantage, by "recapturing Japan", "tightening control over the ROK", and "making difficulties for China".
In order to cover up its own ambitions, the U.S. denounced China's reasonable, well-intentioned, and controlled response as an "overreaction" and China's natural concern for its national security as "arrogance". But it is the U.S. that is ignoring other countries' security interests and national feeling, not China. It is the U.S., and not China, that is showing off its military muscle on other countries' doorsteps. It is the U.S. that is setting out to contain others, not China.
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