Beijing turning to aggression in South China Sea to deflect Covid-19 blame outwards
Beijing is intensifying its appeal to nationalism in an attempt to rally its citizens against perceived external threats and shift local anger about the Covid-19 pandemic beyond its borders, according to a Financial Times analysis.
(MMO) – The shift is set to have serious repercussions with nations that are in dispute with the global superpower, which is also under intense international scrutiny over its role in the world-stopping Covid-19 pandemic.
Among countries in its path is Malaysia, which is locked in a regional maritime dispute with China stemming from the so-called “nine-dash-line” demarcation that the latter has used to unilaterally claim significant swathes of the South China Sea far beyond its territory.
“Confrontational naval activity in the South China Sea has also increased, aimed at rival claimants such as Malaysia and Vietnam. Thousands of Chinese troops have skirmished with the Indians at their disputed border — albeit without known fatalities.
