Chinese state media yesterday turned to Yiddish in the war of words over territorial disputes, criticizing the US as a “kibitzer” for what it called meddling in the South China Sea issue.
A commentary published in English by the Xinhua news agency was headlined “America the Kibitzer” — which refers to an onlooker giving unwanted advice — in this case regarding the South China Sea.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea, a position that conflicts with Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
US officials have called for a multilateral agreement to end all actions that risk further inflaming tensions in the region, which includes US allies.
“Uncle Sam has long been in the grip of many addictions, such as muscle-flexing, preaching and borrowing, but there has turned out to be one more: kibitzing,” the commentary said.
The commentary followed remarks by commander of the US Seventh Fleet, Vice Admiral Robert Thomas, calling for patrols of the South China Sea as well as US senators urging a strategy to deal with China’s land reclamation in the disputed region.
Thomas this week called on Southeast Asian nations to form a combined maritime force to patrol areas of the South China Sea.
“If ASEAN members were to take the lead in organizing something along those lines, trust me, the US Seventh Fleet would be ready to support,” Thomas said.
“Such outside kibitzing ... is way out of line for a party that has publicly committed itself not to [take] sides on the South China Sea disputes,” the commentary said.
Yiddish was once the main language for Jews living in Europe, but started to wane after World War II with the use of Hebrew in Israel and Jewish immigrants to the US switching over to English.
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