By Richard Javad Heydarian
Lingering uncertainties remain about Washington’s commitment to the region.
In response to Beijing’s massive reclamation activities across the Spratly Islands, giving birth to a sprawling network of military bases and advanced facilities on a string of disputed features, the United States has stepped up its reconnaissance missions in the area, presenting a more-than-just-symbolic challenge to Chinese assertion of sovereignty in international waters.
Diplomatically, the Obama administration has stood by its Southeast Asian allies, with the latest ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting (FMM) — and the Shangri-La Dialogue before that — showcasing a verbal tussle between Washington and Beijing. While China hubristically adopted a “don’t even mention it” position vis-à-vis the South China Sea disputes, the U.S. reiterated the relevance of addressing the maritime spats for international security.
In the end, the ASEAN found enough encouragement to not only reiterate its “serious concern” over the troubling trajectory of the disputes, but the Malaysian leader Najib Razak also went so far as declaring it was time for the region to “take a more active role” in resolving the South China Sea disputes.
Despite these moves, almost five years into the Obama administration’s pivot to Asia policy, there are still lingering uncertainties as to the extent of American commitment to its regional allies, principally the Philippines and Japan, which are pushing back against a revanchist China. Not only are there concerns over American wherewithal to rein in a rising China — as fiscal constraints affect military acquisitions and deployments — but Washington’s toxic partisan politics is also (once again) putting American credibility into question.
Read the full story at The Diplomat