The moment the U.S. Navy sailed a warship into waters claimed by China in the South China Sea it gave President Xi Jinping a pretext to accelerate his country’s military presence in the disputed waterway, further placing the vital shipping lane at the heart of U.S.-China rivalry in the Pacific.
The patrol by the USS Lassen prompted an angry response by Beijing and came just weeks after Xi met with President Barack Obama in Washington, where he said China “does not intend to pursue militarization” of the area. The decision to send in the warship -- the most direct attempt by the U.S. to challenge China over its island building in the waters -- may change that.
Tuesday’s action brought the U.S. more formally into the territorial spats between China and some Southeast Asian nations, and cemented the expectation it would act as a policeman and protector in the area. While the patrols are probably being welcomed by smaller countries who feel China is encroaching on their own claims, they also set the stage for similar assertions of authority by Beijing.
Read the full article at Bloomberg.
Author
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Mira Rapp-Hooper
Former Adjunct Senior Fellow, Asia-Pacific Security Program
Mira Rapp-Hooper is a former Adjunct Senior Fellow with the Asia-Pacific Security Program at CNAS. She is formerly a Fellow with the CSIS Asia Program and Director of the CSIS...
