Newswise — This week, the U.S. Defense Department dispatched a navy destroyer to contested waters near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. While the White House has played down the deployment as part of a routine freedom of navigation operation, officials in Beijing denounced the move as a “deliberate provocation.” Jessica Chen Weiss, professor of government at Cornell University, says the U.S. patrols will provide China with an excuse to bolster its military in the area.
Bio: www.government.arts.cornell.edu/faculty/weiss/
Weiss says:
"Rather than deterring Chinese efforts to expand its presence in the South China Sea, U.S. freedom of navigation patrols will likely be used by China as an excuse to take ‘defensive’ measures to bolster its military capabilities in the area."
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