Chipper China has long been the oddball favorite presence in the South China Sea. Their presence has been anything but peaceful as they push their dominant presence on all those that use the waterways.
Maritime freedom is the sea that has been the issue for many years. The United States has a strong presence in the region to keep China from bullying other nations as they send their ships through the area.
In the past, the United States has been gracious and allowed China space as to their actions. But the more grace that was extended only led to them wanting to take more.
Offshore resources are what the Chinese are after. Mike Pompeo has stated that their claims to all the resources in the sea are just ridiculous. There are other nations that share and border the sea.
They have an equal right to the resources found in the waters. Pompeo stated that “Beijing uses intimidation to undermine the sovereign rights of Southeast Asian coastal states in the South China Sea, bully them out of offshore resources, assert unilateral dominion, and replace international law with ‘might makes right.’ Beijing’s approach has been clear for years. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has no legal grounds to unilaterally impose its will on the region.”
The Chinese have no intention of sharing what is rightfully owned by others in the region as well.
In response to China’s bullying of U.S. allies, America has strengthened its position and shifted its focus to open up the possibility of the use of force to stop China from aggressively taking from others what is not legally theirs to take.
It was in 2016 that the Arbitral Tribunal decided that the claims of China had no basis or foundation laid in international law. And it was then that people were cautioned that the United States would become involved should China persist in their push and bullying tactics to get at the resources of the South China Sea.
Zack Cooper who is with the American Enterprise Institute stated that “Making this explicit opens the door to further U.S. moves to penalize destabilizing Chinese behavior, particularly its interference with fishing and oil and gas exploration by the other regional claimants, most notably the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia.”
Peace has always been a trademark of America. But when China will not listen and wants to disrupt the $3 trillion worth of cargo that passes through the sea each year, there will be a response. But even more amazing is what is found under the water that makes China drool at the thought of getting to it.
There are billions of barrels of oil just waiting to be drilled. There are trillions of cubic feet of natural gas waiting to be harvested. But China will have to work out a deal with the other nations that stake their claims to those resources as well.
Craig Singleton from the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies also reiterated the thought that “It also serves as one of the world’s most important trade routes, with about 30 percent of maritime trade flowing through the area annually. This is largely why the U.S. government advocates so strongly for freedom of navigation throughout the area – to deny China with an opportunity to potentially be in control of such an important waterway.”
For years the greedy Chinese has slowly pushed their way out into the sea. Their goal is to take over the region and harvest the natural resources and exploit the shipping traffic that must the sea for travel.
One way that they are doing this is by resettling their people into the region. They hope to quietly take over the region by force of population. Dubious China is also building military facilities close to the sea and even missile sites to station itself for war should they decide to take the region by force.
These important international matters will require someone like President Trump to intervene and decide what is the right course of action to take. Someone like crazy Joe Biden will simply forget his job and make matters worse.
The world needs President Trump more now than ever and another four years will only make the world a better place to live.
