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By Nguyen Manh Hung
Over the years, China has adopted a policy toward the South China Sea that is sometimes flexible, sometimes aggressive, and which combines unilateral action, brinkmanship, piecemeal advances and divide-and-conquer tactics aimed at gradually and steadily expanding its control over disputed areas. The incident at Scarborough Shoal is a perfect example of China’s attempt to put pressure on the Philippines, weaken Association of Southeast Asian Nations cohesion, and test the reaction of the United States.
The Scarborough Shoal is a group of rocks and reefs located 123 miles from the Subic Bay of the Philippines, well within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and hundreds of miles from China’s Hainan Island (although inside China’s notorious nine-dashed line). Both countries claim sovereignty over Scarborough Shoal.
Read the full story at The Diplomat