Roshan Writes:There had been speculations that US is planning to navigate in trouble waters, to sail within 12 nautical miles of the Mischief Reef in order to test Chinese territorial claims. Today according to Reuter’s news the US just did that when according to US defense officials US navy guided missile destroyer USS Lassen sailed close to China’s Subi and Mischief Reef .Chinese reaction was measured and this can be either due to the surprise element, as they might not have thought that US would actually test them or it can be that the Chinese would retaliate after properly deliberating the pros and cones of the situation and then choosing their own timings. The fact that the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told in a daily briefing that if United States continued to “create tensions in the region,” they might be forced to “increase and strengthen the building up of our relevant abilities”. This depicts that this episode will definitely create ripples, considering US officials declaring that there would be more such patrols in future and this is not an one off occurrence. South China Sea is sure to see some anxious moments in future.
The questions which one needs to ask is why US took so much time to react; it had the knowledge all along as to how the Chinese were creating these artificial Islands, and secondly what would be the future outcome of this endeavor. Does US believes that by doing so it can deter China in not building military infrastructures in these Islands? or is it that US wants to prove something that it still is the force to reckon with and is still the global guardian when it comes to freedom of navigation. Does US really fells that she can subdue China? It was getting clearer by the day that somebody needed to bell the cat. An aggressive China was really testing US Asia pivot strategy and in the bargain its relationship with its allies. The answers to all these questions will be revealed soon when one observes the Chinese reactions, they sure are not going to keep quiet as after all it is their prestige which is at stake and knowing Chinese president’s aggressive military posturing, in the coming times, world is going to see some military brinkmanship and verbal exchanges from both the sides.