YOU might have thought an American invasion of China was under way. A warship had “illegally entered” waters in the South China Sea threatening “China’s sovereignty and security interest”, declared Lu Kang, a Chinese spokesman. In fact, all that had happened was that a destroyer, USS Lassen, had peacefully sailed within 12 nautical miles of Subi Reef, one of seven specks of rock and coral in the much-disputed Spratly archipelago where China has been engaged in frenetic construction over the past two years, creating artificial islands.
Chinese admirals may be fuming, but nobody expects a war over the incident. America, however, has said it will not be the last such sail-by. So tension in the South China Sea is likely to mount; relations between America and China will be under strain as their leaders meet at a series of multilateral summits in November; and the unspoken strategic rivalry, as China seeks to displace America as the predominant military power in the western Pacific, will come into sharper focus.
America called USS Lassen’s patrol a routine...Continue reading
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