US President-elect Donald Trump’s secretary of state pick
Rex Tillerson has angered the dragon. He said that the
US would have to send Beijing a clear signal to stop
building the islands in South China Sea and added that access
to those islands is not going to be allowed. China has staked
its claim to the whole of South China Sea on the basis of the
nine-dash line which dates back to 1940s-era maps. This claim
was rejected by the international tribunal which ruled that
there was no legal basis for it. The ruling was rejected by China
which has continued to enlarge the islands and place military
assets on them. This has stoked tension in the area, but
owing to China’s economic and military prowess, no nation
wants to antagonize the dragon. Although, the US has military
presence in the Far East, it will find it difficult to enforce
a blockade. Besides, any military action is bound to provoke
a reaction from China. Tillerson assertion that annexation of
the island is equivalent to Russia’s taking of Crimea sets the
stage for a confrontation, which Trump probably sees as a way
to make America great again, although we don’t know how?
Even though a military incident might still be a long way off, a
second edition of the cold war is definitely in the making.
