Recently a top US diplomat’s claim that China's reclamation in the South China Sea violates the Feng shui of Southeast Asia is refuted by a Chinese Daoist, whose argument seems to be quite reasonable and makes him an instant online celebrity.

Daniel Russel, assistant secretary of state for East Asia, said in a telephone interview with Washington Post that: “Reclamation isn’t necessarily a violation of international law, but it’s certainly violating the harmony, the Feng shui, of Southeast Asia, and it’s certainly violating China’s claim to be a good neighbor and a benign and non-threatening power.”

Daniel Russel’s explanation from the perspective of feng shui really can’t persuade the Chinese insiders. Liang Xingyang, secretary general of the Chang'an District Taoism Association issued a post on the Twitter-like Weibo, to defend China's construction works at Nansha Islands in the South China Sea.

In his post titled Positive influences China's islands construction brings to the earth's Feng shui and the peace of the Solar System, Liang first accused Russel of illegally using the Taoism’s secrets of reading feng shui.

(Photo/ Weibo.com)

"I suggest China tighten up its export control of feng shui technology to the US to stop it being plagiarized," he said in ridicule.

Then he went on to explain why Russel was wrong and the reclamation in the South China Sea is good for the feng shui in the area and the whole world at large.

The short of land in the South China Sea, which is at the center of Southeast Asia, means there is no strong point in the area and this is bad for the region's stability, Liang said.

He believed that the stability brought by the lands' construction is good for the running of the earth-moon system, which would make it easier for human being to conduct moon landing in the future.

His comments made him an instant online celebrity. The debate over feng shui became a hot topic on Weibo with over 1,000 users commenting on Liang’s post.

"Russel's feng shui accusation of China is ridiculous. But it would be better to refute them through such an informal way than an official response," one netizen said.

"It is totally wrong for an American to choose to talk about Feng shui with Chinese people," another commented.

Editor’s Note: Feng shui, pinyin: fēng shuǐ, is a Chinese philosophical system of harmonizing everyone with the surrounding environment.