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The US-China problem in the South China Sea: one man’s militarisation is another man’s self-defence
The US accuses China of militarising the South China Sea, but to Beijing, it is the Pentagon that has aggressively projected power in the region.
The US also has a troubling policy of taking pre-emptive action against perceived threats.
- Mark J. Valencia
- South China Morning Post
The South China Sea is a nexus of the China-US contest for dominance in the region. In the heat of this struggle, the United States has frequently accused China of all sorts of bad behaviour there.
Specifically, it has characterised China’s actions as “militarisation”, assertiveness and even “bullying” – sometimes rightly.
These are serious allegations with…