Two cheers for the Obama Administration on this action – they’ll get the third if there’s sufficient follow-through over time:
A potential conflict was brewing last night in the South China Sea after President Obama dispatched heavily armed American destroyers to the scene of a naval standoff between the US and China at the weekend.
Mr Obama’s decision to send an armed escort for US surveillance ships in the area follows the aggressive and co-ordinated manoeuvres of five Chinese boats on Sunday. They harassed and nearly collided with an unarmed American vessel.
Washington accused the Chinese ships of moving directly in front of the US Navy surveillance ship Impeccable, forcing its crew to take emergency action, and to deploy a high-pressure water hose to deter the Chinese ships. Formal protests were lodged with Beijing after the incident.
On a day that Mr Obama and his senior officials met the Chinese Foreign Minister, Yang Jiechi, in Washington, Beijing showed no sign of backing down. Its military chiefs accused the unarmed US Navy ship of being on a spying mission.
This is a freedom of the seas issue and we must not back down an inch. China’s actions have put her entirely in the wrong and China must cease all harassment of US vessels in international waters and give guarantees against any repeat in the future.
This is, indeed, one of those early tests President Obama will face in foreign affairs – China’s government wants to know what sort of man Obama is, just as they wanted to know what sort of man President Bush was back in 2001 when they challenged our flights off the Chinese coast. President Bush passed his test, and Obama has taken the step necessary to pass his – provided this is not just a face-saving one time cruise. We have to keep going back, at least several times a year, to re-assert our right to navigate freely in international waters.
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