China’s state-run media responded angrily to the characterization by international media that Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s ongoing South Pacific tour encountered a snag after the coalition of 10-Pacific Islander Countries refused to endorse a Chinese development proposal that also included security provisions.
The nationalist tabloid Global Times said that the “Western media’s assertions of China “suffering a setback” with the South Pacific island nations” is “grossly inaccurate” and an “attempt to drive a wedge between parties.”
“Negotiations take time and efforts from all parties,” the paper explained, “how can carrying out that necessary negotiation process in a professional and respectful manner be a failure?”
The irony, of course, with this article is that if the same coalition of Pacific islander countries publicly rebuffed a U.S., Australian, or a European proposal the way they did China’s, there’s no doubt Global Times would be among the first out with a tweet and an article ridiculing their Western adversary.
