Chinese state media turned to Yiddish on
Saturday in the war of words over territorial
disputes, criticising the United States as a
"kibitzer" for what it called meddling in the
South China Sea issue.
A commentary published in English by the
official Xinhua news agency was headlined
"America the Kibitzer" -- which refers to an
onlooker who gives unwanted advice -- in this
case regarding the South China Sea.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea, a
position that conflicts with Brunei, Malaysia, the
Philippines and Vietnam, as well as with Taiwan.
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, Bloomberg
News reported.
"If ASEAN members were to take the lead in
organising something along those lines, trust
me, the US 7th Fleet would be ready to
support," Bloomberg quoted Thomas as saying.
ASEAN is the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations.
"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 Xinhua commentary said.
Yiddish was once the main language for Jews
living in Europe. But it started to wane after
World War II with the use of Hebrew in Israel
and Jewish immigrants to America switching
over to English.