Are the Chinese censors asleep?
| AN OUTSIDERS VIEW |
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| Ken Fuller |
Last Wednesday, I came across an Associated Press (AP) story entitled “China, Vietnam conduct joint sea patrol amid tension” on the Inquirer Web site. (On the AP site the story, by Margie Mason, has a slightly different heading.)
As an example of the tension generated by competing claims to territory in the South China Sea, it quotes an editorial run by Beijing’s Global Times the previous day, June 21. According to the AP piece, the editorial roars: “If Vietnam wishes to create a war in the South China Sea, China will resolutely keep them (sic) company” and “China has the absolute might to crush the naval fleets sent from Vietnam. China will show no mercy to its rival due to ‘global impact’ concerns.”
Feeling that this — especially the “show no mercy” bit — was somewhat extreme, I decided to consult the horse’s mouth and, after a brief search, found myself at www.globaltimes.cn. There, “China must react to Vietnam’s provocation,” was easy enough to find. Amazingly, the passages quoted above simply did not appear. The editorial begins by arguing that China must prepare for two scenarios — peaceful negotiation if Vietnam is willing, “or answer the provocation with political, economic or even military counterstrikes.” The most bellicose comments come toward the end, so here are the final four paragraphs..... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110628com5.html
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