April 07, 2017
Weathering the Coming Storm in the South China Sea
Quite apart from the Trump-Xi summit, China and the United States are due for a showdown in the South China Sea. Beijing confronted the last two administrations with dangerous naval encounters designed to mark territorial claims and probe Washington’s political will. For George W. Bush, it was the Hainan Island Incident on April 1, 2001. For Barack Obama, it was the USNS Impeccable on March 9, 2009.
This history suggests that China should challenge U.S. military presence in the coming weeks.
Yet President Donald Trump is in his third month in office and still largely untested by Chinese leaders, who are using the Mar-a-Lago summit as a prime opportunity to size up the new American administration.
Read the full article at The Diplomat.
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