Averting a Deepening U.S.-China Rift Over the South China Sea

The Global Think Tank | CarnegieEndowment.org
http://carnegieendowment.org/2015/06/02/averting-deepening-u.s.-china-rift-over-south-china-sea/i9be

Averting a Deepening U.S.-China Rift Over the South China Sea

Michael D, Swaine | june 2 2015

The recently announced Chinese defense white paper focusing on China’s commitment to strengthen its growing naval power, along with bellicose remarks by Chinese and American officials regarding events in the South China Sea, have deepened tensions between Washington and Beijing and set the media and punditry world afire. Reacting to continued Chinese land reclamation efforts on several reefs in the Spratly Islands, senior U.S. officials and military officers vow to “fight tonight” if needed to defend U.S. interests across the Indo-Pacific, while referring to Chinese claims across the South China Sea as “preposterous” and Chinese land activities there as designed to “militarize” the region and to build a “great wall of sand.” In response, Chinese officials and spokespersons warn the United States against provocative actions, insist that China will not back down and reiterate their determination to “safeguard our own sovereignty and territorial integrity.”