Pompeo made the remarks after meeting his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on Thursday in the Thai capital Bangkok for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), where the two diplomats met for the first time this year amid increasing tensions between the China and the US.

China claims nearly the entire strategic South China Sea with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam pushing competing claims to parts of the maritime region. Tensions have escalated in the South China Sea over recent incidents between Chinese and Vietnamese and Philippine ships, according to Reuters. And Beijing has warned the United States and other non-Asian countries not to intensify disputes in the South China Sea.

“The arrogance and hubris of the US knows no bounds. US Secretary of State Pompeo feels that he has the unmitigated right to scold China for what he considers indiscretions in the South China Sea and along the Mekong River. This sort of high-handed buffoonery however will get him nowhere,” Etler, a former professor of Anthropology at Cabrillo College in Aptos, California, told Press TV on Friday.

“China’s neighbors certainly do not need Pompeo to tell them how to negotiate with China about issues that concerned them. They are fully capable of doing so themselves without outside interference. In fact, the countries Pompeo seeks to advice realize that the US is simply pushing its own agenda and does not have their real interests at heart,” he stated.

“China’s presence looms large among the members of ASEAN, but it has developed in depth relationships with all of them that are mutually beneficial and have the potential for even greater rewards in the future,” he noted.

“The US however wants to sow discord between Beijing and Southeast Asian countries by roiling the seas and fishing in troubled waters. China has always advocated peacefully settling differences between the affected parties without outsider intervention,” he said.

“Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has reiterated Beijing’s commitment to conclude a Code of Conduct with ASEAN governing the South China Sea that will make the disputed region more stable. This is something that the US wants to sabotage at all costs, but the ship has already left the dock and Pompeo and the US will be left stranded,” he concluded.