COLUMNS
In the South China Sea, Washington Tries to Balance Support and Entanglement
Jul 17, 2020 | 09:30 GMT
(TED ALJIBE/AFP via Getty Images)
Highlights
- Washington continues to walk a delicate balance between supporting its allies and partners in the region and avoiding entanglement in regional territorial conflicts.
- So long as U.S. policy remains largely reactive to China, rather than proactive in defining and shaping the region toward a particular goal, its behavior will remain difficult for partners and allies to anticipate.
- Now that the State Department has issued a new position statement, China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nation states will be watching closely to see just how far the words translate into action.