US, WASHINGTON (ORDO NEWS) — What really happened between the American destroyer and Chinese warships is not clear. China claims to have forced the American ship to leave, while Washington claims that there was no confrontation.
Nevertheless, this incident underscores a dangerous trend: Beijing is determined to use the lack of American leadership and the world’s concern for the coronavirus to stretch its muscles in the global arena.
China aggressively defends its geopolitical interests by making claims in the South China Sea while striving to expand its influence on foreign governments and multilateral institutions such as the World Health Organization, which the US refused to work with.
Malaysia, receiving assistance from China, remained silent about Chinese naval activity off its shores and among its oil exploration vessels.
Vietnam and the Philippines protested against China’s new declaration of sovereignty over a large number of islands, but the United States did not seem to want to take sides or go a little further than its standard exercise on “protecting freedom of navigation.”
Beijing seems determined to test America’s mood, and a dangerous miscalculation cannot be ruled out, which will turn into a confrontation. However, it is more likely that China will prefer to use its military equipment in the same way that it uses diplomacy, undermining America’s allies’ confidence in their readiness to be their leader.
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