Great Satan US says it will stand by allies against China

The United States has warned China that it will stand by its allies against Beijing in territorial disputes over islands in the South China Sea.

Before a congressional hearing on Thursday, Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel said Washington will meet its commitments to its Asian allies, adding that the US and its allies fear Crimea’s reintegration into Russia could serve as a precedent for China.

“There should be no doubt about resolve of the United States. We stand by our allies and we stand by our commitments,” said the top US diplomat for East Asia.

Russel also threatened China with economic sanctions in case Beijing “might contemplate the Crimea annexation as a model” and said US sanctions against China could have a “chilling effect on” the country.

China has claimed around 90 percent of the 3.5 million square km South China Sea while some members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations – Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Taiwan – also have claims over parts of the area. China says its claim has a solid historic and legal basis.

In a phone interview with Press TV on February 17, Mark Dankof, an American political analyst, said Washington’s interference in this dispute obviously shows “there’s a multifold American agenda involved in this.”

“One would be to secure potential American hegemony in the Strait of Malacca. The other would be to secure American multinational corporate oil and natural gas interests in the South China Sea,” Dankof told Press TV.

US President Barack Obama is to visit the Philippines later this month as part of a four-nation trip aimed at reviving his administration’s shift, or “pivot”, towards the Asia region, which has been seen by Beijing as a strategy to counter China’s increasing global influence.

The US has also interfered in disputes over a cluster of islands in the East China Sea claimed by both China and US ally Japan.

This comes as recent surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center show that a majority of Americans oppose Washington’s interventionism across the globe and believe the US government should “mind its own business.”