Over the past five years, Beijing has made little secret of its ambitions in the South China Sea, building up reefs there into fully fledged artificial islands, building airstrips there and constructing port facilities. Intelligence reports also indicate that satellite images show China has armed the islands with surface-to-air missiles and other defensive weaponry.
This effective annexation of the islands effectively put the seas there under Beijing’s control, despite vocal opposition from governments in Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. Already, the Philippines has taken China to the international court of arbitration and won, a decision that has been essentially ignored in Beijing. While he was in office, former United States president Barack Obama ordered a warship to sail through the disputed islands, and he ordered two B52 bombers to overfly the reefs. Both moves were a statement that the US backed the principle of open navigation there, and sent a clear message to Beijing that Washington was backing its regional allies there.
In the past week, US President Donald Trump has ordered a US carrier group centred on the USS Carl Vinson to patrol the area — an even louder message to Beijing. China itself has one aircraft carrier and it too will be patrolling the waters in the South China Sea.
The most serious threat in the region comes from North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic programmes. When it comes to dealing effectively with Pyongyang, Trump needs China’s support. By escalating a military presence in the South China Sea, there’s less reason for China to play ball. Beijing and Trump have already fallen out over his initial support for Taiwan, and there’s a trade war brewing between the two nations. Let’s just hope the war is confined to trade.
