China playing chicken with the US

Vessels from the US military and other countries increasingly find themselves in high-stakes confrontations on the East Asian seas, where China has adopted a strategy of making rivals flinch or risk collision.

China expands its reach by playing chicken with the US military

War by other means: As China attempts to wrest control of the South China Sea, the US is forced to flinch or crash.

As anyone who has seen “Rebel Without a Cause” knows, playing chicken is dangerous for California teenagers in hot-rods.

But playing chicken with warships, cruisers, and fighter jets — well, that’s just another level of crazy.

Unfortunately, vessels from the US military and from other countries increasingly find themselves in such high-stakes confrontations on the East Asian seas, where China has adopted a strategy of making rivals flinch or risk collision.

Just this week, Chinese sailors parked three ships on a disputed reef 50 miles from the Malaysian coast and performed a ceremony in which they swore an oath “to safeguard [China’s] sovereignty and territorial interests.” Malaysia also claims the reef, and is building a naval base nearby to protect it against China’s claim.

That’s just the latest in an escalating series of incidents.

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Source: Global Post.