Two Vietnamese Marine Guard ships flank a Chinese coast guard vessel (C) on the South China Sea, about 210 km (130 miles) offshore of Vietnam May 15, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Nguyen Minh
Obama's Asia Pivot Tested By China's Bold Maritime Claims -- Reuters
(Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama sought to reassure allies in Asia last month that the United States would support them in the face of a more assertive China.
But after one of Beijing's boldest moves in years to lay claim to contested waters off Vietnam, some Asia countries are asking a simple question: Where is Washington?
Days after Obama left the region, China deployed an oil drilling rig 150 miles off the coast of Vietnam, into a part of the South China Sea claimed by itself and Hanoi. That sparked deadly anti-China riots in central Vietnam and raised questions over whether Obama's long-promised strategic "pivot" of military assets to Asia is more than talk.
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My Comment: China is betting that the U.S. will not jump in and "protect" Vietnam's maritime claims .... and so far the U.S. has kept it's distance from this dispute.
Even now hash tags of unimaginable social devastation are being readied for deployment.
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