Dignities at the East Asia summit. Yahoo/Reuters
China continues to ignore U.S. and East Asian attempts to reduce tensions. -Yahoo/AP. The 10 members of the Association of East Asian Nations expressed concern on increased tensions in the South China Sea. They call for a moratorium on any actions that could be seen as "destabilizing". China has dismissed any calls for a freeze and rankles at the suggestion that the U.S. should be involved in the disputes at all. China has been acting aggressively to its neighbors and has been pressing maritime claims leading to fear of war in the region.
My Comment:
I don't see China backing down. They desperately need resources and these maritime claims will be used to secure oil and fishing opportunities. China is of course more powerful then its neighbors but America has always been a counter to China's territorial ambitions. That might not be true anymore. American power is clearly in decline. We have a very weak president embroiled with several complex and distracting foreign policy issues and a whole host of domestic scandals. Our military is over-exerted and stretched to the limit, especially if we get drawn further into the Iraq War. Chinese military strength is increasing and they are starting to have at least some counters to our most powerful weapons. Add all this perceived and actual weakness into a situation where nationalism is running rampant and you have a recipe for war.
Of course, even with all our weaknesses China would still lose a war against us. Our carriers might be at risk but they have no answer to our nuclear submarine fleet. For the time being we still have a stronger Air Force and we have the ability to strike at command and control centers. War would be absolutely devastating to all involved parties, even if a nuclear engagement could be avoided. Still, China might not see it that way and that is extremely worrisome.
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