US using ‘gunboat diplomacy’ to counter China, Russia: Analyst

The United States is trying to rein in the growing Chinese and Russian influence by resorting to “gunboat diplomacy,” which involves sending warships and undertaking aggressive naval operations in hope of scoring political points against the two rivaling superpowers, an American political analyst says.

Earlier this week, Russia warned the American destroyer USS Donald Cook deployed in the Black Sea against approaching Russian coasts, stressing that Moscow was closely watching and monitoring the warship’s actions.

Following the incident, Russian senator Alexei Pushkov said such visits to the Black Sea by US warships had nothing to do with US security and were motivated by domestic politics.

Earlier this month, a similar confrontation took place in the South China Sea, where the US has been sending warships in order to challenge China’s sovereignty claims over most of the disputed waters.

Washington says the operations near Chinese waters are aimed at securing “freedom of navigation” in the sea, which is gateway for over $5 trillion in annual maritime trade.

Under President Donald Trump, the US military has gradually pulled out of the Middle East to shift focus on the Pacific region to curb Russia and China’s influence there.

“The US use of 'gunboat diplomacy' has reached new heights in its contention with both Russia and China, the two nations which it sees as representing 'ever more diverse threats' to its national security,” Dennis Etler, a former professor of Anthropology at Cabrillo College in Aptos, California, told Press TV on Wednesday.

PressTV-Stay away from Russian coast, Moscow warns US warship

Russia warns a US warship in the Black Sea against approaching its coasts, saying it is closely monitoring the destroyer’s actions.

“Neither Russia nor China however is in truth an existential threat to the US,” the analyst added. “It is well known that it is the US and its NATO allies that have been infringing of Russian sovereignty by amassing troops and arsenals on its borders, not vice versa.”

“And it is the US which is attempting to surround and rein in China. China has no desire nor need to attempt to curtail the US in similar fashion,” Etler continued.

Referring to the “self-aggrandizing” nature of the US policies, Etler said it was no surprise that US warships were present in almost all important parts of the world.

PressTV-China military warns off US warship in disputed sea

Beijing says it has lodged “stern representations” with Washington after an American navy ship sailed near the disputed South China Sea islands.

“Thus we find the US navy operating not only in the South and East China Seas, and the Taiwan Strait in its effort to threaten China, but in the Baltic and Black Seas in its attempt to assert its presence on Russia’s border and in the Persian Gulf where it wants to threaten Iran,” he said.

“The aggressive nature of US naval maneuvers throughout the world is a threat to world peace and stability and must be challenged by any nation that wants to preserve its independence and sovereignty,” Etler concluded.

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