‘Keep calm and don’t overreact’ to hawkish US talk, say Chinese analysts
China should stay calm and not intensify the situation in the South China Sea just on the basis of that tough talk by Trump cabinet nominees, say mainland experts on US affairs
Chinese analysts have called for calm and caution in the aftermath of the tough stands on China taken by US president-elect Donald Trump’s diplomacy and military picks this week.
At a US Senate confirmation hearing late on Thursday, defence secretary nominee James Mattis branded China, Russia and Islamist militants as the biggest challenges to the US-led world order since the second world war, and called for the US Congress to lift spending military spending caps.
Those comments came a day after Rex Tillerson, Trump’s pick for secretary of state, said the United States must send a clear signal to China that its building of and access to islands in the disputed South China Sea must stop.
Liu Weidong, a US foreign affairs observer from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the two nominees were warning China not to be arrogant, but “China need not overly react since Trump’s China policy is still not known”.
“China should stay calm and not intensify the situation in the South China Sea just on the basis of that tough talk. After all, the US has not put those hawkish remarks into reality,” Liu said.