Topics of the Month

President Obama’s visit next month to four East Asian allies and partners almost certainly will feature conversations on how to deal with Chinese incremental territorial expansion at its neighbors’ expense. Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Malaysia are all disputants in recent territorial issues with China. The president faces a rising tide of concern at home and in the region; the focus of concern stresses that the United States government needs to articulate and implement a “strategy” for dealing with China’s so-called “salami slicing” tactics featuring the use of intimidating and coercive means that do not involve the direct use of military force that would warrant a strong American military response. In short, how will the United States deal with China in this “gray zone” between war and peace in East Asia’s disputed seas?

Read full article at www.theasanforum.org.
facebook share twitter share google+ share