US shows its ill intentions

A US strike group comprising the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis, destroyers and cruisers recently arrived in the South China Sea to begin a seven-month-long demonstration of military force.

The muscle flexing is aimed at keeping its commitments to allies in the region and exerting pressures on China. The US has not stopped criticizing China for "militarization" of the South China Sea, but its sending of the strike group shows it is Washington not Beijing that is militarizing the sea.

Despite being of more political than military significance, the latest naval deployment by the US may further exacerbate regional territorial disputes and encourage the Philippines to take bolder actions against China.