The South China Sea Is Where A U.S. - China Confrontation Is At A High Risk Of Occuring

A photo from April 28, 2020, shows a US Navy guided-missile destroyer conducting underway operations in the South China Sea.PHOTO: AFP

Bloomberg: U.S.-China Confrontation Risk Is Highest in the South China Sea

As China and the U.S. trade barbs over everything from trade to Covid-19 to Hong Kong, the two powers are at greater risk of careering into physical confrontation. And nowhere are their warships and fighter jets coming as close to each other, with as much frequency, as the South China Sea.

A military conflict would probably be devastating for both. There are no signs that either side actually wants one. Still, in times of high tension, miscalculations can have unintended consequences.

In the first four months of the year the U.S. Navy conducted four freedom of navigation operations, known as FONOPS, in the South China Sea, which is criss-crossed by competing claims by nations including China, the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia. That puts it on track to surpass last year’s total of eight. At the same time, as China emerged from the worst of the coronavirus outbreak, its Navy steamed back out of port in Hainan and resumed drills in the area.

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WNU Editor: When this is the new normal, anything becomes possible .... According To the Pentagon Chinese Warships Are Challenging U.S. War Ships And Spy Planes With 'Risky' Run-Ins (May 21, 2020).