Russia Today talks with CCTV’s Wang Guan on South China Sea

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Russia Today talks with CCTV’s Wang Guan on South China Sea. (RT)

“It’s the U.S. that stirs up tension in South China Sea,” says CCTV’s Wang Guan in an interview with Russia Today’s Erin Ade. Wang Guan points out that more than 500 times a year, the Pentagon has been sending reconnaissance aircraft to South China Sea, sometimes just 200 kilometers from Chinese island of Hainan. Beijing objects to these surveillance missions and considers them provocative.

Russia Today talks with CCTV's Wang Guan on South China Sea

“It’s the U.S. that stirs up tension in South China Sea,” says CCTV’s Wang Guan in an interview with Russia Today’s Erin Ade. Wang Guan points out that more than 500 times a year, the Pentagon has been sending reconnaissance aircraft to South China Sea, sometimes just 200 kilometers from Chinese island of Hainan. Beijing objects to these surveillance missions and considers them provocative.

Video Courtesy: Russia Today

“It’s the U.S. that stirs up tension in South China Sea.”


During the interview, Wang Guan maintained that Washington should pay better attention to history. As early as 206 BC, Chinese texts from the Han dynasty claimed ownership of the disputed territories, calling them the “Rising Sea Islands.’ Subsequent dynasties made similar claims. As Wang Guan pointed out, after World War II international diplomacy reaffirmed China’s sovereignty over the disputes islands. “Japan returned all those (occupied) islands – the Xisha (Paracel) Islands, the Nansha (Spratly) Islands – to China. The UK, the U.S., Russia all agreed upon it. That’s the Allied Forces. As early as 1947, China published this nine-dotted line that claimed the territory that it claims today.”

“What is the moral authority of a country that urges others to pay attention to a law it itself did not ratify?”

U.S. has been urging China to resolve the South China Sea disputes through international law, and adhere to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. However, Washington has not ratified the convention. The U.S. objects to the transfer deep seabed mining technologies to less developed countries. “What is the moral authority of a country that urges others to pay attention to a law it itself did not ratify?” Wang Guan asked.

Full Interview Transcript–Russia Today talks with CCTV’s Wang Guan
May 29, 2015, Washington D.C.

Erin Ade, Russia Today Host:
“Now to talk about China, Wang Guan is on the show. Guan is the Chief Political Correspondent at CCTV America. And we started off by discussing the tensions brewing between the U.S. and China over the South China Sea. China says its infrastructure projects are for ordinary use in order to facilitate navigation and other services. However the U.S. disagrees. So I first asked Guan to give us the Chinese perspective on the proprietorship of the islands that make up the South China Sea.

Wang Guan:
I think a knowledge of the past is crucial for the understanding of the present. China has historical basis to claim that island. Actually that’s a legacy of World War II. After the war, Japan returned all those islands, the Xisha Island, the Nansha island, to China. The UK, the U.S., Russia all agreed upon it. That’s the Allied Forces. As early as 1947, China published this nine-dotted line that claimed the territory that it claims today. Nobody disputed it. And now China is the world’s second largest economy. All of a sudden, some countries may or may not be emboldened by the U.S. pivot to Asia and they are making an issue out of it and they are calling out China. China basically thinks it’s the U.S. who’s stirring up the tension in the region. When Washington has over 500 reconnaissance and surveillance missions, sometimes just 200 kilometers off the Chinese island of Hainan, China’s upset about it. And we think it’s Pentagon that’s stirring up the tension and they should pay attention to historical perspectives.

Erin Ade, Russia Today Host:
“It’s great to hear this side of the story. Because you see a lot of western media and this isn’t really what you are gonna be getting most of the time. I want to ask you, what about other Asian countries vying for these islands, you have Vietnam, you have the Phillipines. Do you think it’s kind of the U.S. corralling them to fight for this?

Wang Guan:
I think to a large extent yes. The United States has been urging China to resort the disputes through international law and through multilateral mechanisms, and namely the UN convention on the law of the sea. But what’s fun is, Erin, the United States of America is not even a signatory, it did not even sign or ratify that very convention it urges China to observe. What is the moral authority of a country that urges others to pay attention to a law it itself did not ratify? Yes there are overlapping claims. If you look at the nine-dotted line, the territory that China claims, it’s pretty large. That overlaps with Phillipines’ 200 kilometer Exclusive Economic zones, so yeah, people should solve it peacefully, put it to international court and solve it diplomatically. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea didn’t really specify a way out. So I think it takes bilateral diplomatic approaches to solve it peacefully.

Erin Ade, Russia Today Host:
“Do you think we will see that?”

Wang Guan:
“I think we will see that. Here you hear a lot of noises about ‘oh, China is being aggressive and it’s starting a war. Don’t forget, Erin, the last time China was in a war in the late 1970s. So it took China 35, 40 years to start a war. How many year does it take the U.S. to start a war? I think some worries and concerns are not grounded. I don’t think there should be any concern for a military conflict. No I don’t think so.”

It’s US that stirs up the tensions in South China SeaThe US is creating tensions in the region and is urging China to…

Posted by RT on Sunday, May 31, 2015