Washington not incarnation of justice: China Daily editorial

It is not unusual for the US ambassador to the United Nations to seize an opportunity to point an accusing finger at China.

In the latest instance, at a UN Security Council session on maritime security on Monday, Dorothy Shea, US charge d'affaires to the UN, hyped up supposed concern about "China's out-sized influence over the Panama Canal area, especially over critical infrastructure and port operations".

She and the US administration are blithely trying to overspeak the words of Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino. After Donald Trump imputed in his inauguration speech as US president that China was operating the Panama Canal and that the US had not given it to China but Panama, Mulino declared Trump's claim to be "nonsense", stressing that there was "absolutely no Chinese interference" in the canal.

The US president has since threatened to take control of the canal by force, claiming that US vessels were being charged "exorbitant" fees to pass through it. A claim that has also been rejected by the Panamanian authorities.

The "out-sized influence" of China that Shea mentioned refers to a subsidiary of Hutchison Port Holdings, which has operated two of the canal's five ports, Balboa and Cristobal, since 1997. The two ports sit on the Pacific and Atlantic sides respectively. The company is a subsidiary of publicly listed CK Hutchison Holdings, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate.

China does have more presence in the world because many Chinese companies have business operations overseas and because of what it has been doing to promote global development. The country has become a major trading partner of more than 150 countries and regions, which means that its goods are a common sight around the world.

But rather than being a concern as the US tries to portray, China's expanding influence is positive. It has contributed to global development, the economic and social development of Global South countries in particular. With its growing stature China has also pushed for reform of the global governance system to make it fairer and more just.

Why should China's influence as a positive force for global development be the target of US attacks? Why does such influence irritate Washington? It is because of some US politicians' zero-sum game mentality.

Not to mention that the influence the US has exerted in some parts of the world has been anything but positive. It has initiated and been involved in many military conflicts worldwide over the past decades. It has imposed unilateral economic sanctions on various countries. Its interference in the internal affairs of other countries has produced regional chaos. Furthermore, it has played a troublemaking role in the South China Sea and other regions. None of these actions can be said to promote global stability and development.

Bearing the stigma of being a major source of instability in many countries and regions, it is shame on Washington to point an accusing finger at China. As far as the issue of the Panama Canal is concerned, China has always respected Panama's sovereignty over the Panama Canal and recognized the neutrality of the canal as an international waterway.

Fu Cong, permanent representative of China to the UN, dismissed the US accusations as groundless, pointing out that they were merely a pretext for the US to gain control of the canal. On Shea's accusation against China on the question of the South China Sea, the Chinese ambassador rightly said that it is the US that is the biggest disruptor of peace and stability in the South China Sea.

The US has deployed offensive weaponry in the region, including land-based intermediate range missiles, has repeatedly dispatched large-scale naval and air forces to conduct reconnaissance and military exercises in the South China Sea, and has sought to flex its military muscles and run amok on the very doorstep of China, with a clear objective of creating instability in the region to advance its own geopolitical agenda.

Washington rides roughshod over other countries and interferes in the internal affairs of many countries in whatever manner it chooses. And it is constantly pointing an accusing finger at other countries for rule-breaking behavior when it is the one guilty of that. But the days are gone when Washington could fool people into believing it is the incarnation of justice.