Beating a Dead Horse

There is an old saying in this country that says there is not much point in beating a dead horse.  It is applied to a number of circumstances where a person continues to make a point over and over, even after we all have gotten the message.  That seems to be the way China is handling the South China Sea.

China, in China Daily, announced today that it has launched a satellite that will help with monitoring its sea lanes.  This satellite could well be used for almost anything, but they make the point of saying it will help them watch sea lanes which are not in dispute and certainly do not especially need watching.  However, in making one more point for the 108752 time, they mention that this thing is watching over its territory.  The Artibration Tribunal says it isn't their territory, so they make the point over and over that they are enforcing the sea lanes and aircraft identification zones - among other things - ad nauseum - until we finally hold up our hands and surrender.

This horse is dead.  They can beat it all they want but at some point they need to stop for fear of making some very unpleasant things happen just to make a point they have already made.  They allude to those bad things that might happen as a way of saying "Do this our way or we will make bad things happen."  Where have we heard this before?  How about Russia in the Ukraine, Syria in Syria, and China for years.  If we are going to ever get past this stage, we have to have the patience and perserverence to match them in beating the dead horse.  Vietnam, Japan and the Philippines can help out.  We can't let them win because we don't have the capacity to stand up for what we think is right.  While we are at it, let's let Taiwan into the U.N, pass tariffs on every bit of Chinese goods that come from stolen technology, and put some muscle into defending our allies in the South China Sea.