The US is pressuring other countries to take sides on the South China Sea issue for power politics rather upholding international law, analysts said.

With an international court ruling on a South China Sea arbitration filed by the Philippines drawing near, more countries have voiced support for China's position in settling disputes in the South China Sea through negotiations and agreements between the parties concerned, including ASEAN members Laos, Cambodia and Brunei as well as BRICS countries Russia and India.

The move comes after the US began joint South China Sea naval patrols with Manila, and the two countries engaged in joint naval exercises near the disputed waters also invited Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, India, and Timor-Leste to observe the activities.

Most countries standing with the US on the South China Sea issue are those who support US intentions to contain China, Song Zhongping, a Beijing-based military expert, told the Global Times.

Instead of a head-on collision with China, the US has adopted a low-risk approach to make those countries distance themselves from China or even side with the US, Yuan Zheng, director of the Division of American Foreign Policy Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday.

For those countries, taking sides is a "tough choice" they did not want to make, said Li Kaisheng, a research fellow at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

Clash over Hague case

The US is in no position to criticize China, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said Friday in response to US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken's opposition to China's stand that it cannot be a party to the convention and reject "the binding nature of any arbitration decision."

The arbitral tribunal has no legal basis as the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea has nothing to do with issues concerning territorial sovereignty, Hua noted, adding that the US is not even a party to the Convention.

"Although the US keeps saying it will not take sides, it is urging some countries to take sides by hyping up the South China Sea arbitration, which has little to do with itself," Yuan said.

He noted that the rising tensions in the South China Sea result from "the game between a hegemonic US and an emerging China."

On August 25, 2006, China submitted a statement of optional exception to the UN Secretary General that it rejects the arbitration on matters concerning territorial sovereignty and maritime interests under the rights entitled in Article 298 of the Convention.

The International Court of Arbitration at The Hague is expected to decide on the case in late May or early June, according to Reuters.

Addressed through negotiations

China, Russia and India jointly said in a communiqué last month that the South China Sea issue should be addressed through negotiations and agreements between the parties concerned.

However, the US "freedom of navigation" patrols take no account of other countries' feelings and territorial claims and harm the national interests of many countries including China and India, Song said.

In 2015, the US conducted operations in the name of "freedom of navigation" against 13 countries, including China and India, Reuters reported in late April.

"Will the US behave in the Indian Ocean one day the way it does in the South China Sea?" Yuan said, adding that this could be one of India's concerns.

Besides increasing diplomatic efforts, China has taken more targeted measures to express discontent over the US Navy's patrols in the South China Sea, said Li, citing China's denial of the US aircraft carrier John C. Stennis' visit to Hong Kong as an example.

Certain countries are concerned with adding to the instability by meddling in the South China Sea issue and even sending warships on patrol missions there, Bambang Suryono, president of the Indonesia-based Nanyang ASEAN Foundation, was quoted by Xinhua as saying.