“To some well-meaning Americans, international law is a way to peacefully settle conflict. To Chinese diplomats, it’s a tool to assert their pre-existing aggressive claims,” he said.
“What gives?” he said. “Only weeks ago, the Obama administration was heralding resumption of defense talks as the start of a new era in US-China military relations. The problem is that military contacts are an American priority, not a Chinese one.”
“The Chinese are not going to be lured away from their sovereign claims in the South China Sea or anywhere else by indirection or abstraction. Their claims must be challenged, not only by quietly carrying out naval operations in international waters, but explicitly. Observers in the region are well aware of Chinese claims on Taiwan, the South China Sea and Senkakus,” he said.
Officers of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) are calling the move of the Chung-Hoon into the South China Sea “an inappropriate reaction.”
One Chinese naval source said that the PLA had taken note of the latest US move and was “watching developments closely.”
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