In the best tradition of double-talk

People of my age recollect quite clearly the venerable tradition of double-talk by
Nazi and Communist regimes.

For example, the Soviet agency "Pravda" (that word is the Russian for "Truth") was an excellent organ of Soviet propaganda which paid no attention to any objective truth.

Chinese naval vessels were named "Peace Number 1", "Peace Number 2" and so on during Mao's time (are they still?).

It is in that excellent tradition of obfuscation that General Liang Guanglie, China’s defence minister, has rejected criticism that his country was acting belligerently in the South China Sea. In his view, and in the view of the Chinese government, China is pursuing a policy of ‘peaceful rise’.

By that, the world should understand that China wants to impose its wishes on the rest of the world, and that the only way to have peace is for the world not to stand in China's way. In other words, if the world wants to avoid having China totally imposing its will on the world, the only way seems to be war.

Well, I think it totally inappropriate that the waters are often called the South China Sea - in all international discussions, the waters should be called the South East Asian Sea.

So the South East Asian Sea has claims by all the nations that border it - the other nations involved being Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Given the geography of the area it seems to me clear that the strongest claims to the Spratly Islands are by the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam. Sphere: Related Content