Admiral Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, delivered a keynote speech on Sunday at  the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. Without mentioning it directly, he criticized the US for showing off its military muscle while forming factions against China, pressuring Beijing to accept and execute the result of the South China Sea arbitration, moves that China forcefully opposes.

One day earlier, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter focused his speech on denouncing China for isolating itself. Japanese Minister of Defense Gen Nakatani also stressed that "No countries can be an outsider" of the South China Sea issue. Moreover, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian claimed at the forum that the EU had a stake in maintaining freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. An impression is gradually being formed that the South China Sea issue is becoming further internationalized.

However, China's real situation in the waters is not necessarily the same as how the South China Sea dispute has been hyped up at the Shangri-La Dialogue. Apart from the US and Japan, other nations beyond the region have kept a detached attitude. The EU's stance over the issue is definitely not against China - this can be well-illustrated when severe divergences emerged while the G7 countries were discussing whether and how to mention the South China Sea in their recent joint statement.

There are some concerns among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), although they are worried more about US interventions than about China's island construction. It is Washington and Tokyo which have been opposing China's island construction the most. It is clear whether the bigger shock waves come from Beijing's island building or the US confronting China in the South China Sea.

Both the US and Japan might want to form a modern Eight-Nation Alliance, in order to pile military, political and diplomatic pressure on Beijing. But it won't work. Even the claimant countries in the waters want to prioritize safeguarding peaceful development in the region, rather than fighting for the islands.

US ambition for hegemony and Japan's strategy to fish in troubled waters has already been well revealed. Any issue around China can be exploited by them. As long as China properly handles its divergences with other countries in the South China Sea, economic cooperation and common development will highly likely be highlighted again as the theme of the region. In that case, Washington and Tokyo will find it hard to keep looking for troubles in the waters. The US strategy to rebalance to the Asia-Pacific will face more resistance.