In his speech at Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said China has taken "some expansive and unprecedented actions" in the South China Sea. Carter warned China again against "erecting a Great Wall of isolation." He announced that the Pentagon is continuing to send its most advanced capacities to the Asia-Pacific, including deployment of B-52 bombers. 

Carter had made those remarks before he attended the event. He previously even claimed that the situation China and the US are locked into is akin to the 50-year Cold War standoff between the US and the former Soviet Union, which he avoided at the Shangri-La Dialogue. 

Some analysts hold that Carter's speech was more moderate than his previous harsh rhetoric against China. In the Q&A segment, Carter was asked what the US would do to prevent China's construction activity on the Huangyan Island. Carter refrained from making further confrontational remarks. 

Given Carter's verbal bombardment against China prior to the Shangri-La Dialogue, many had predicted that China and the US would stage a fierce exchange at the event. However, Carter, as the first speaker at the event, held back.   

Carter seems have toned down, especially on remarks comparing the current Asia-Pacific situation with China's rise as akin to the 50-year Cold War standoff between the US and the former Soviet Union. His statement can hardly find real support in the Asia-Pacific and even the rest of the world. People do not expect a return of the Cold War in this region. It is disappointing that Carter became the first high-ranking official of a major power to advocate cold war.

In his previous remarks, Carter made a tough stand against China over the South China Sea dispute by ordering the deployment of the US' "most advanced capabilities" and sending its "best people" to the Asia-Pacific. But in the Shangri-La Dialogue where many defense ministers of Asia-Pacific countries converged, Carter understood that they would not agree with Washington's continuous effort to escalate regional tensions and make the South China Sea a powder keg, although they have concerns with China's rise. 

The US is becoming the biggest instigator of chaos in the South China Sea. It is playing up geopolitics in the region by using its internal frictions, an endeavor that has greatly increased the risks, which are not in line with the interests of most Southeast Asian countries. It is no wonder that considering the disapproval of most regional countries, Carter hid his hawkishness in today's speech.

But Carter won't change his attitude. He represents a clique that is eager to sustain Washington's hegemony in the Western Pacific by reinforcing military deployments and containing China's peaceful rise. It is the US' policy to hinder China's rise by inciting other claimants of the South China Sea and ASEAN to inflame the dispute. Washington is going as far as it can get.

Carter invoked "principle" 36 times in his speech, stressing the importance of a "principled security network." He also compared security to oxygen, saying "when you have enough of it, you pay no attention to it. But when you don't have enough, you can think of nothing else."

Carter's eloquence seems quite pleasant to the ears, but he implied that the US is the vanguard of principle and Asia's "oxygen." The US will continue playing a role in the Asia-Pacific, and no one can or will drive it away. But if the US shows no respect to China's core interests and claims itself to be a leader, it won't be able to sit well on the throne. Other countries in the region won't blindly follow Washington's lead.