Chinese warships and fighter jets take part in a military display in the South China Sea on April 12. © Reuters
Simon Roughneen, Nikkei Asian Review: How Beijing is winning control of the South China Sea
Erratic US policy and fraying alliances give China a free hand.
SINGAPORE -- Even by his outspoken standards, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s account of a conversation he had with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, was startling.
During a meeting between the two leaders in Beijing in May 2017, the subject turned to whether the Philippines would seek to drill for oil in a part of the South China Sea claimed by both countries. Duterte said he was given a blunt warning by China’s president.
“[Xi’s] response to me [was], ‘We’re friends, we don’t want to quarrel with you, we want to maintain the presence of warm relationship, but if you force the issue, we’ll go to war,” Duterte recounted.
A year later, Duterte was asked for a response to news that China had landed long-range bombers on one of the South China Sea's Paracel Islands -- a milestone that suggests the People's Liberation Army Air Force can easily make the short hop to most of Southeast Asia from its new airstrips. “What’s the point of questioning whether the planes there land or not?” Duterte responded.
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Update: Shifting US policy leaves Asian allies at sea (Nikkei Asian Review)
WNU Editor: I have a different take.The nations that border the South China Sea want the U.S. to take the initiative to confront Chinese claims in the South China Sea .... but they themselves have always capitulated to China's territorial demands and/or gave mixed signals to the U.S. on what support they would give in the event that tensions would rise. This started during the Obama administration .... and it is continuing with the Trump administration. And as long as these nations remain divided and/or reluctant to support the U.S. .... China will continue to do what it has been doing for the past five years.
