A top U.S. official said Thursday that the economic retaliation faced by Russia after annexing Crimea should deter China from pursuing territorial claims in Asia.
Daniel Russel, a senior US official and President Barack Obama's point man for East Asia said that Beijing's intentions were difficult to understand and the U.S. will protect its Asian allies. "The net effect is to put more pressure on China to demonstrate that it remains committed to the peaceful resolution of the problems," Russel, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asia, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, reports Reuters.
He also said that China should learn a lesson from the West-imposed economic sanctions against Russia. Russel also said that the sanctions should have a "chilling effect on anyone in China who might contemplate the Crimea annexation as a model."
"It is fair to say... that the extent of Chinese interdependence in economic terms with the United States and with its Asian neighbors is such that the prospect of the kind of incremental retaliatory steps that are gradually being imposed on Russia... should have a chilling effect on anyone in China who might contemplate the Crimea annexation as a model," Russel said, reports Agence France- Presse.
Russel said that Washington so far had not taken any stand on rival territorial claims in East Asia but it will continue to be committed to defend its allies like Japan, Philippines and South Korea. He said the territorial disputes could be solved by peaceful methods rather than arms and weapons.
The comments come after Philippines filed a case against China at an arbitration tribunal in The Hague. Russel pointed out that China should take this as a warning to end any confusion surrounding its own territorial claims.
He also said that deployment of ships in the disputed territory of the South China Sea is seen as "problematic" by the international community and is considered highly "intimidating."
"It is incumbent of all of the claimants to foreswear intimidation, coercion and other non-diplomatic or extra-legal means," Russel said.
China claimed the South China Sea as part of its territory when it's considered as a shared zone with Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan- all claiming their share. Diplomacy and bilateral talks have led to no solutions.
