A top Chinese general has blamed the US “pivot” to Asia for escalating tensions in the South China Sea that have sparked violent anti-China riots across Vietnam, forcing factories to shut production.
Fang Fenghui, chief of the general staff of the Chinese military, said during a visit to the Pentagon that Washington should hold an “objective view” of the disputes in the resource-rich South China Sea.
“The ones that are provoking those issues in the South China Sea is not China but certain countries that are attempting to gain their own interest because they believe China is now developing its economy and the US is adopting this Asia-Pacific rebalancing strategy,” Gen Fang said in a press briefing on Thursday.