Here they go again.
Each time a high-ranking US official visits the Asia-Pacific region, the need to "counter an aggressive China" is the inevitable watchword uttered to the hosts.
No opportunity will be wasted to whip up anti-China sentiments and cajole countries in the region to side with the United States in its geopolitical competition with China.
US Secretary Antony Blinken's visit to Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand next week is unlikely to be an exception to this new normal. A few days before the top US diplomat sets foot in the region, Daniel Kritenbrink, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said Blinken's meetings will focus on strengthening the regional security infrastructure in response to what the US now habitually decries as China's "bullying in the South China Sea".
Such an unfounded accusation against China is typical of the US diplomatic narrative, in which the US presents itself in the guise of the sheriff of regional peace and security while pinning the tag of outlaw on China and urging others to join it in a posse against what it depicts as an increasingly lawbreaking China.
The South China Sea disputes have become a convenient podium on which the US can deliver its anti-China rant in a bid to drive a wedge between China and Southeast Asian countries. Yet despite having talked themselves hoarse trying to wrap their mono-message in different words, none of them have been able to sell to the countries in the region the belief that the US is really aligned with their desire for peace and stability in the South China Sea.
Instead, the US' increasingly frequent military maneuvers in the South China Sea on the pretext of "freedom of navigation" and its latest political and security initiatives have exposed the hollowness of such a claim.
During his upcoming visits to Indonesia and Malaysia, Blinken may need to address the concerns both countries have raised about AUKUS, the new security alliance the US has formed with the United Kingdom and Australia, and its debut move which will see the US and the UK help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines, which goes against the region's stance against nuclear proliferation.
In Thailand, Blinken is also likely to face the country's displeasure about why it was excluded from US President Joe Biden's so-called Summit for Democracy. That the US has only invited three out of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations is perceived as being divisive.
As such, before heading to the region, Blinken should be advised that the more the US meddles in regional affairs the more successful its drive-a-wedge strategy is－but only between the US and the countries in the region.