Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) navy sailors march during an open day at the Ngong Shuen Chau Naval Base on Hong Kong's Stonecutters Island July 28, 2012. The naval base was open to the public on Saturday, four days ahead of the PLA Army Day on August 1. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
Gordon G. Chang, National Interest: China Will 'Pull the Trigger' in the South China Sea
Beijing may want to “win without fighting” as Holmes suggests, but it cannot win without confronting.
The National Interest has recently hosted a debate on whether China wants a confrontation in the South China Sea.
In a January 24 piece, “China Wants Confrontation in the South China Sea,” I argue what the title states. James Holmes, in “No, China Doesn’t Want Confrontation in the South China Sea,” takes a different view.
In this piece, I show China wants more than just to provoke a confrontation in that contested body of water. It wants to “pull the trigger.” Beijing, we should recognize, will almost certainly use force if it gets the opportunity.
That’s more than just a prediction. It is an extrapolation from past Chinese behavior.
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WNU Editor: China has definitely changed in the past 10 years. In the past the Chinese had made the conscious decision to not get directly involved in international affairs .... to be low key, and to not stir "the pot". No more now. They are asserting what they feel are their justifiable claims .... and what makes it worse .... they are looking for a fight. The question is .... who will they focus their energies on so that they can make the point that the Chinese cannot be taken for granted. In short .... they want to make an example of someone so that they can then show the rest of the world that going against China will exact a price.
2 comments:
Yes, China is looking for fight, at least for a "good" training before any force against USA. My favorite pray is India: big enough, but not too much. China has no real combat experience since decades, this would be a necessary one.
Are you kidding me? India? No. China does not want to wake its giant neighbour and make it an enemy for decades.
No. North Korea makes most sense to prevent US meddling/invasion. But it might be too tough for them.
Some small country they don't have to worry about for decades to come will be slapped around. But there aren't that many options unless china really picks a fight. Must also be a country without US partnership. Not Japan. Might be Taiwan. Taiwan really makes sense. They claim it. US likely won't get involved. They are small enough. Strategic enought. And China announced it might happen.
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