THE United States-China rivalry is heating up. Every week seems to need a "Breaking News" update. The latest is the Houston-Chengdu tit for tat as one called for the closure of the other's consulate.
This will only get worse. The worry is Southeast Asian nations, which have nothing to do with their rivalry, are being caught in the middle. Neither country can blame the other for all that is wrong. Both are at fault.
The US and China must take their fight elsewhere. Let's take the fault of the US first. The US has a China problem. This was obvious when President Donald Trump went on a "Wuhandunnit" war dance, blaming China for all that was wrong with Covid-19. From bats to pangolin and everything in between were said to have Chinese characteristics.
When this didn't work, Trump blamed the Chinese lab in Wuhan for manufacturing the virus. Like in many things else, he provided no evidence at all for saying it. A little introspection on the part of Trump would help.
The fact is the US president and his administration mishandled the pandemic and when it got worse, he needed a scapegoat. China, being not faultless, was a convenient sacrificial lamb.
The US' China problem isn't just about the pandemic. It has spread from trade through Hong Kong to the plight of the Uighur in Xinjiang, not to mention the stormy waters of the South China Sea.
China, too, has a US problem. Take the storm brewing in the South China Sea. China can stop the US from interfering in its dispute with the Southeast Asian nations if it stops muscling its way in the South China Sea.
Consider two examples. On April 2, a Vietnamese fishing boat in the Paracel Islands was rammed by a Chinese maritime surveillance vessel in the disputed waters, according to Vietnam's Foreign Ministry website. The vessel picked the Vietnamese fishermen out of the sea, but that is not the point.
In April, too, a Chinese government survey vessel, Haiyang Dizhi 8, is said to have entered the exclusive economic zone of Malaysia and began a survey there. It was accompanied by a Chinese coast guard vessel, according to a Channel News Asia report.
The US and Australia didn't allow much time to pass. They quickly despatched warships (the US) and a frigate (Australia) in the name of a joint exercise to tell China that they are ready, able and willing to calm the waters of the South China Sea.
China should know that its show of power in the South China Sea will invite similar power display by others, even from as far away as the US. What's more, an alliance of the West will come together in the event of a war.
There is no alliance of the East to speak of. Even if there is one, would they support China? There is only one way to make sure that the rivalry doesn't end up in war.
China must show the world that it is, like most of the rest of the world, a party to a rules-based order. And in the case of the South China Sea, the United Nations Conference on the Laws of the Sea 1982 is it. Anything less will end up in a war of words, or worse, in a battle of bullets.