In a policy speech on the US' Asia-Pacific strategy delivered at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii last week, US Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States is seeking to forge a relationship with China that broadens cooperation on "common interests".

On the surface, there is nothing wrong with this assertion as the rest of the world would agree that the world's largest and second-largest economy do need to deepen cooperation and expand their common interests. Yet considering that the top US diplomat has just launched what was perceived to be veiled criticism of China over the South China Sea a few days earlier at a regional forum in Myanmar, there is good reason to question the sincerity of this seemingly encouraging remark.

The US move in the regional forum-calling for a freeze on so-called provocative acts in the South China Sea-was believed to be aimed at disrupting China's legitimate and normal drilling operations in its own territorial waters in the South China Sea. The US' meddling in China's maritime territorial disputes with some neighboring countries over the East and South China seas has undoubtedly contributed to current tense political ties in the region.