US intimidating meddling to no avail

The United States has developed a penchant for stoking tensions in the South China Sea on the occasion of the annual series of Southeast Asia meetings in recent years. And when the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and their regional partners met in Bangkok over the past few days to discuss important issues concerning regional development, this year proved to be no exception.

Although the US president was absent from the meetings for the third consecutive year, which has been widely interpreted as showing the White House's indifference to the regional bloc, US National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien stepped up to the plate and seized the occasion to lash out at China over the South China Sea issue.

Apart from the now habitual attempt of the US to make something out of nothing, by hyping up the issue of freedom of navigation, O'Brien also accused Beijing of using "intimidation" to try and stop ASEAN member states from exploiting their offshore resources.