China Tells U.S. To Give

The Chinese are usually subtle about making a point, but Bloomberg has an article today that describes a less than subtle approach to U.S. Objections to their spread of territory.  [ See, David Tweed, China Tells U.S. To Stop Flexing Military Muscle in Asia, 21 December 2015 ] Wang Yi, China's Foreign Minister is lecturing the U.S. On how to behave in their foreign policy.  Don't show off your military power;  don't get to close to seas that China claims as its own;  don't sell things to Taiwan.  Objections noted.

So, the bottom line here is that China expects the United States to behave like they agree with China over their claim to the entire South China Sea, including those little islands where a B-52 wandered last week, and the big island of Taiwan.  It doesn't occur to the Foreign Minister that the Chinese claim to an area 1000 miles from its shores doesn't carry much weight and should be ignored.  When I wrote my first book five years ago, The Chinese Information War, they were already trying to in force claims that were not recognized by most of their neighbors in that region.  They hadn't built up the Sprately Islands yet, but still told everyone they owned it.  They haven't stopped claiming it;  they haven't let up on the rhetoric;  they haven't changed their approach to other countries that send ships and airplanes into the area, as a BBC crew did this year.  They broadcast repeated warnings to anyone that gets close.  They don't mind if others object to their view, but they will continue to claim the seas well beyond their territorial waters.  They act surprised when anyone challenges their claims, usually by flying or floating through the area.  They act like continuing to claim the area will eventually win out.  They retaliate by sending ships into our territorial waters in Alaska.  "There will be consequences" they say.

We really can't accept their claims, and the Chinese cannot enforce them.   But the countries around the South China Sea are more affected than the U.S.  These are ridiculous, unsupportable claims equivalent to Mexico laying claim to California territories they once owned.  Countries other than just the U.S. Need to stand up to this kind of expansion.  We should be sending hundreds of multinational planes and ships through that territory and universally ignoring their warnings.   Let them figure out one day that the rest of the world doesn't follow China just because it says we should.