Robert Haddick, a retired Marine officer suggests that Washington must respond to China's "salami slicing" strategy in the Asia-Pacific region, in his article written for Procedings Magazine, operated by the US Naval Institute, on January of 2015.
China is trying to replace the US in its role as leader of the Western Pacific by taking various actions which are too small to technically provoke a response. Those actions, however, will eventually accumulate into a substantial geopolitic change over time. The examples of those small actions includes the seizure of the Scarborough Shoal from the Philippines in June 2012 and the deployment of Haiyang Shiyou 981, an oil rig to the disputed waters clamed by both China and Vietnam in May of 2014.
One of China's most significant and enduring competitive advantages to carry out this "salami slicing" strategy is its continental position. Haddick said this allows China to project its air power over the Western Pacific from dozens of hardened bases on and near its coast. In addition, those bases are under the protection of the largest force of advanced surface-to-air systems in the world, according to the US Department of Defense.
Read the full story at Want China Times