A satellite photo of Whitsun Reef on March 23. At one point in March, 220 Chinese ships were reported to be anchored around the reef.Credit...Maxar Technologies
After building artificial islands, China is using large fleets of ostensibly civilian boats to press other countries’ vessels out of disputed waters.
The Chinese ships settled in like unwanted guests who wouldn’t leave.
As the days passed, more appeared. They were simply fishing boats, China said, though they did not appear to be fishing. Dozens even lashed themselves together in neat rows, seeking shelter, it was claimed, from storms that never came.
Not long ago, China asserted its claims on the South China Sea by building and fortifying artificial islands in waters also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia. Its strategy now is to reinforce those outposts by swarming the disputed waters with vessels, effectively defying the other countries to expel them.
The goal is to accomplish by overwhelming presence what it has been unable to do through diplomacy or international law. And to an extent, it appears to be working.
“Beijing pretty clearly thinks that if it uses enough coercion and pressure over a long enough period of time, it will squeeze the Southeast Asians out,” said Greg Poling, the director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, which tracks developments in the South China Sea. “It’s insidious.”
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WNU editor: In the case of the Philippines, it appears this tactic is working.
3 comments:
This will stop if we use the only language China understand: use of force. The risk of war is very low, China is not ready for a confrontation with USA.
and the USA is not ready for a confrontation with China
President Donald Trump has been forced to pay back $122 million to donors who were tricked into making recurring payments to his 2020 reelection campaign.
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Complaints from donors prompted the Trump campaign to eventually reimburse $122 million in contributions.
Donald Trump attracted a groundswell of donors during his 2020 election campaign, but many unwittingly signed up to make recurring payments
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