World should heed U.S. interests in South China Sea arbitration -- Egyptian experts

Egyptian experts say the international community should be vigilant about veiled U.S. interests in the South China Sea arbitration case.

Though it was the Philippines that initiated the case against China, the United Statespredominated it, Diyaa El-Fiqy, a political analyst on international affairs, told Xinhua.

"In the past, the Philippines signed a deal to solve the problem in a friendly way via negotiations, but it reversed its promises under U.S. pressures and went to arbitration," he said.

The United States uses the freedom of navigation as a pretext to interfere in the South China Sea through the Philippines, El-Fiqy added.

"The United States is entirely upset about the development of China as a powerful country," he said."This is their biggest fear."

El-Fiqy's remarks were echoed by Nabil Zaki, a political analyst and spokesperson of Egypt's National Progressive Unionist Party, who said Washington has exerted pressure on the arbitral tribunal.

"The United States wants to stir up a new cold war in the region to contain a fast-growing China both economically and politically," Zaki said.

El-Fiqy said people should pay attention to the logic of Washington behind the issue, the same as behind the Iraq War, which was recently exposed by Britain's investigation report on the Iraq War.

The United States has double-standard policies because it has never respected international law, and it invaded Iraq without approval from the United Nations Security Council, El-Fiqy said.

The Iraq War destabilized the Middle East, leading to the rise of the Islamic State group, he added.

Washington's worries about China are not justified, and it "seeks to repeat the Iraqi mess to prevent China from growing," the expert concluded.

Zaki reckons Washington's intervention in countries of the Middle East are intended for resources in the region. "After the Middle East, It is trying to poke its nose into the South China Sea now," he said.

Source: Xinhua