That is no longer the case, as actors from beyond the region, led and orchestrated by the United States, have stepped deeper into the troubled waters, and it is the US that has now become the most prominent factor in the growing frictions between China and its neighbors.

As a key part of the US’ divisive tactics aimed at isolating China, the disputes have increasingly become an integral part of its international discourse seeking to portray China as an aggressive lawbreaker. As the recent verbal exchange between Beijing and its most prominent critics reveals, this now focuses on which country -China according to US propaganda networks- should be held accountable for the escalating tensions. In this way, the US has successfully managed to incorporate the disputes into its China strategy while misrepresenting its own actions as meaningful contributions to a just resolution of the disputes.

On Sunday, the foreign and defense ministers of the United States and Japan held their «2+2» security talks in Tokyo. On Monday, the foreign ministers of the QUAD security alliance, which groups Australia, India, Japan and the US, also met in the Japanese capital. A common topic of both meetings was China as the allegedly destabilizing actor in the region.

Labeling China as the «greatest strategic challenge» in the «Indo-Pacific», the US and Japanese ministers tried to blame all troubles in the East and South China seas on China.

Moreover, without calling names, the QUAD foreign ministers raised concerns about what they claimed to be «militarization of disputed features, and coercive and intimidating maneuvers» in the East and South China seas in a separate statement.

The US-Japan and QUAD rhetoric about the need to counter «growing security threats» from «an increasingly assertive, provocative Beijing» only serves to show the nature of their game regarding the maritime disputes in the waters of the East and South China seas, which is to escalate the tensions between claimant US allies and China.

It is thus the US and Japan that are the real threats to regional peace and stability. Although they claim to promote regional peace and a rules-based international order, they are actually forming blocs, cobbling together exclusionary groupings, manipulating political games and creating confrontations.

China firmly opposes these countries using the pretext of «opposing coercion» to actually engage in group confrontations. The regional consensus that held sway, before the US decided the disputes could be of use to it, is that bilateral maritime issues could and should be addressed through direct dialogue and negotiation with the countries concerned.

While there seems no prospect of it happening, the US and Japan should stop scaremongering, inciting antagonism and confrontation. But with the US and its regional allies intent on playing their game, such entreaties will only fall on deaf ears.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin promised the US forces in Japan will be upgraded to a joint force headquarters with expanded missions and operational responsibilities. And he is expected to announce a $500 million military financing package for the Philippines in Manila.

Since the US loves nothing better than military escapades, despite their tendency to prove disastrous misadventures, that does not bode well for the region unless its allies can keep it in check.