U.S. Warships Enter Disputed Waters of South China Sea as Tensions With China Escalate

[Marrah_Goodman]

Source: New York Times

American warships have sailed into disputed waters in the South China Sea, according to military analysts, heightening a standoff in the waterway and sharpening the rivalry between the United States and China, even as much of the world is in lockdown because of the coronavirus.

The America, an amphibious assault ship, and the Bunker Hill, a guided missile cruiser, entered contested waters off Malaysia. At the same time, a Chinese government ship in the area has for days been tailing a Malaysian state oil company ship carrying out exploratory drilling. Chinese and Australian warships have also powered into nearby waters, according to the defense experts.

Despite working to control a pandemic that spread from China earlier this year, Beijing has not reduced its activities in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway through which one-third of global shipping flows. Instead, the Chinese government’s yearslong pattern of assertiveness has only intensified, military analysts said.

“It’s a quite deliberate Chinese strategy to try to maximize what they perceive as being a moment of distraction and the reduced capability of the United States to pressure neighbors,” said Peter Jennings, a former Australian defense official who is the executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/21/world/asia/coronavirus-south-china-sea-warships.html

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I came across this because my nephew is on the Bunker Hill.

[Bengus81]

1. Of course,nothing else in Trumps election clown car is working..........

[Igel]

11. Let's see ...

Since early March

the Houthi have come out in support of Hamas and Hezbollah in calling for Israel's destruction

China's bullied a few countries they share maritime borders with and even managed to ram one of their ships and encroach on another's airspace

Iran's been busy in the Persian Gulf

Venezuela even managed to have its coast guard crash into a cruise ship.

It's a good thing that those countries have nothing in common, otherwise it might sound like a consistent trait.

[McKim]

2. Distraction and Disaster Capitalism

A convenient distraction, a bone for his supporters and an opportunity to further his agenda in The Fog of the Pandemic!

[mathematic]

6. You're blaming "disaster capitalism" for china's atttempts an annexing neighboring territories?

That seems like quite a stretch. Stop carrying water for the Chinese government. They're not your friends.

[diverdownjt]

12. Would you accept "Disaster Communism"

It's the same concept...When everyone is looking here do something bad over there.
Very few people have the attention span to watch 2-3 things at a time.

Yeah...I just invented it...Naomi...here is the theme for your next book.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

13. Ok, then, how about "disaster imperialism"?

It seems that China is taking advantage of the world's attention on (China's?) coronavirus to expand its military presence in the western Pacific seas.

And why not? The U.S. didn't take any serious action when Russia seized the Crimean peninsula and other bits of Ukraine territory.

[not_the_one]

16. The turd doesn't take a shit without getting permission from Vlad and Xi.

He CERTAINLY doesn't want to piss either of them off. They have to much power over him.

This is carefully choreographed, scripted drama. There is probably a nudge, nudge, wink, wink that we don't get to see.

THEY give their approval, and it is red meat to his base. Win/Win.

[Miguelito Loveless]

3. Of course,

because what we need is a clash with China. He's going from "wag the dog" to "wag the whole bloody pack".

[Sapient Donkey]

15. This is mostly China's doing, and we'd likely be doing this even if Clinton was president now

This freedom of navigation stuff in the South China Sea has been an ongoing things, even when Obama was in office.

[Newest Reality]

4. Trump's Regime

General Trump's Regime is just as, (if not more so) busy messing around with other countries and messing up ours as they pretend to be doing such a great job on the pandemic in their opinion.

This is the time to keep an eye open on alternative media that reports on that even in the midst of a major distraction. A distraction that makes it easier for dictators to get away with even more.

There are plenty resources available for the shenanigans, but there seem to be shortages for a crisis. Go figure.

[RRDrummer]

5. This highlights

my personal biggest fear for the crisis. WWIII with China. The orange dude in charge ain’t up to the task.

[Kaiserguy]

8. The Orange Dude

isn't up to waging war on Grenada. Hopefully the cooler heads in the military tell him to go pound sand.

[RRDrummer]

9. Not even really

speaking to his intellectual capacity regarding the waging of war but rather his ability to navigate complex international relations during a time of historical crisis in such a way that doesn’t implode resulting in WWIII and the end of the world. He’s just not qualified to do much of anything let alone safely find his way through the current minefield of China relations.

[Devil Child]

7. Fuck China and their 9-Dash Line claims

Nothing more than baseless resource grabs and imperialist expansion. I’d be quite happy with their navy rusting on the ocean floor.

[dalton99a]

10. +1. The South China Sea belongs to China

because the Arabian Sea belongs to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf of Mexico belongs to Mexico

[ripcord]

14. China is just being a bully as normal

President Obama understood the need to stand up to these strong arm robbers but too many here freak out at denying China anything they want to steal. I'm tired of the people saying we mustn't upset China they are the modern day versions of Neville Chamberlain.