As the United States squeezes China economically through an escalating trade war, it is simultaneously ramping up military efforts to challenge Beijing’s recent strategic gains in the contested South China Sea.
The tit-for-tat punitive exchanges on economic and strategic fronts has effectively commenced what some analysts now see as a new Cold War pitting America versus China, a contest that is spiraling dangerously towards a possible armed conflict at sea.
US President Donald Trump recently stepped up his trade war with Beijing by imposing new tariffs on an additional US$200 billion worth of Chinese products, adding to the US$50 billion of measures applied on Chinese imports earlier this year.
The American president has threatened to slap tariffs on another US$267 billion of Chinese imports if the Asian powerhouse fails to address lingering concerns over what his administration views as Beijing’s predatory and unfair trade practices.
China has responded in kind by applying retaliatory tariffs on US$60 billion worth of American imports, while indefinitely suspending trade negotiations to resolve the dispute.
China apparently views its roiled relations with the US as an existential struggle, with the ongoing trade war seen as part of a broader containment strategy Washington is now intensifying through military means in the South China Sea.
On Sunday, a Chinese military vessel sailed close to a US destroyer ship conducting Freedom of Navigation Operation (FONOP) in the vicinity of the disputed Gaven and Johnson Reefs in the sea’s Spratly chain of islands.
The US Navy accused China of engaging in an “unsafe and unprofessional maneuver”, reportedly coming as close as 40 meters to the USS Decatur’s bow and almost causing a naval collision on high seas. A US official told Reuters the destroyer had travelled with 12 nautical miles of the reefs.
In response, China accused the US of violating its “sovereignty and security” and that the US’ repeated deployment of military ships near its claimed islands without permission were “seriously damaging” Sino-US military ties.
In recent months, Beijing has militarized several features it claims in the South China, raising concerns it aims to impose an aerial defense identification zone (ADIZ) over the crucial waterway.
In the skies, the US has countered China’s expansive claims through the recent deployment of B-52 bombers as part of a “continuous bomber presence” in the South China Sea, a policy China has characterized as “provocative.”
At the same time, Washington is ramping up its defense cooperation with regional partners in the region, including Japan, Australia and the United Kingdom. South Korea may also be entering the fray.
In mid-September, the South Korean destroyer Munmu the Great sailed close to Chinese-claimed territories in the sea, supposedly to steer clear of a typhoon. Beijing issued a diplomatic rebuke, saying the ship’s presence in its territorial seas violated Chinese law.
The Trump administration has also authorized a US$1.3 billion arms sale to Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province. Increased defense assistance to Taipei is a direct challenge to Beijing’s growing attempts at coercive “reunification” with Taiwan.
During a visit to Manila last week, US Navy Admiral Philip Davidson, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, signed a new defense agreement with the Philippines that will substantially expand the number of joint military exercises, including in the area of maritime security, the two sides hold annually from 261 to 281.
Authorities didn’t provide immediate details on the 20 additional exercises but they are expected to focus on counterterrorism as well as maritime security operations.
“We have been doing this year after year and yet there is still so much left to learn,” said Philippine military chief General Galvez in welcoming the deepened security cooperation.
Those warming bilateral defense relations are gaining momentum against the backdrop of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s China-leaning diplomacy and unabated criticism of the US and traditional western allies.
This reflects the enduring influence of Washington in the Philippines, particularly among the powerful defense establishment, which has remained broadly independent from the policy preferences of the Filipino president.
More likely, the quiet revival in bilateral defense cooperation reflects Manila’s growing concerns over Beijing’s creeping presence in Philippine-claimed waters in the South China Sea.
In stark contrast, Sino-American strategic ties are entering a dangerous phase of confrontation, as bilateral diplomatic channels fracture and fray.
A scheduled meeting for October between US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and his Chinese counterpart General Wei Fengh in Beijing has been cancelled amid the rising tensions.
China earlier cancelled a meeting between its naval chief, Vice Admiral Shen Jinlong, and American counterparts in Newport, Rhode Island. Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe was scheduled to visit the US later this year but China’s Defense Ministry suggested last week that the visit may be cancelled.
The spiking bilateral tensions are reaching deep into the heart of American politics, with Trump accusing China of directly meddling in upcoming midterm elections.
During his chairmanship of the UN Security Council’s recent meeting, Trump accused Beijing of “trying to meddle in our elections and we’re not going to let that happen.”
Foreign Minister Wang Yi categorically denied Trump’s accusations, reiterating that China “will not interfere in any countries’ domestic affairs,” and “refuse[s] to accept any unwarranted accusations against China.”
In a terse op-ed for Iowa’s Des Moines Register newspaper, Terry Branstad, the US ambassador to China, lashed out at Beijing for supposedly “doubling down on…bullying [American voters] by running propaganda ads in our own free press.”
His critical remarks came after an uproar caused by a Chinese government-paid advertisement in the same newspaper which warned Iowa farmers about the impact of trade wars between US and China.
Washington has accused China of engaging in a systematic campaign to discredit the Trump administration in key voting constituencies, particularly in rural farming communities which are suffering from declining exports to China amid the ongoing trade war.
If left unchecked, the escalating tensions between the two superpowers will severely disrupt regional trade linkages while raising the risk of armed confrontation in the South China Sea and possibly beyond.
From the US view point they feel it is better to have it now while China is relatively powerful, but not as powerful as the US yet. This premise on the superiority of the American military machinery. They hope to stare down China by displaying their awesome military power. Unfortunately it is a bit late. This struggle for domination in Asia is Long in coming, not now it will be sometime in the near future. The Chinese has prepared for this and no doubt will see this through no matters the cost. It will be disruptive, the smaller nations in between badly mauled if they miscalculated.
The world is also undergoing a realignment of power distribution, with major powers scrambling for spheres of influence. The US is trying to backstop this. Unfortunately it is retreating from Asia and from the world, President Trump only expedite it.
Every time any commentator uses the phrase "new cold war" – I take it as lazy thoughtless journalism and it diminishes the credibility of the writer.
USA provokes a new Cold War with Russia. USA provokes a new Cold War with Korea. USA provokes a new Cold War with China. USA provokes a new hot war with Syria, USA bombed Libya. USA bombed Somalia. USA helps Saudi Arabia to bomb Yemen. USA threatens to invade Venezuela. USA threatens to sanction India. Pattern: If you have no nukes, you get bombed by USA. If you have nukes, you can only get a Cold War.
I would think some ferry will stay for tourism…
Your split and rule don’t work with the chines
Chinese have 5 thousand years of history and have 108 ways to take care of barbarian like xiongnu, Hun or the latest day hegemon.
Sour grapes.
Why are you surprised that China’s self-defined imperialism would invoke a U.S. response.
Xi Jinping may be too sensible & well-balanced. If he were more of an alpha male like Kim Jong-un or Vladimir Putin, Trump would order the task force back, sack Admiral Davidson & already be into his sixth summit by now.
You are right. China is an eternal country. It can live under any condition. USA is a transient country. It will die soon. It will disintegrate within the next ten years. It will break down into at least three countries. There will then be no USA.
I believe US is the rouble maker in the whole world to show its muscle as a world leader. China is forced to defense its territory. Could we live
more peacefully and not to go to kick others’ front door?
The comments posted do make me sick! Just think, Who will be the biggest losers in this "Game of Thrones?" The dead people–the Chinese!!!
Soybean farmers in the Midwest don’t need China to remind them of the negative affects of Trump’s trade war. There are plenty of articles in the domestic press to do that. If the Republicans take a hit in these elections, it is Trump’s fault, not China’s. In fact, when this affair began, China proposed to import MORE US agricultural products, but Trump upped the ante, so the deal got scuttled.
They’re trying their hardest to caus e provocation, to start the war they already had in mind, that will win the support of the American public voters, aka false flag like wmd in Iraq, etc.
Yeah China, dont you dare challenge the mighty USA in killing more brown people and invading their lands than you can ever dreamed of. You will never surpass us in this record. Stick to building roads in Africa. USA USA USA
Remember Imperial Japan in 1945, China. The Japanese were a far better fighting machine, economy, and with a clear plan and determination to rule the Pacific and Asia than China ever could (and they almost did after they crippled the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor), and look what happened when they fought the US. America fought a war of determination, island by island with a warrior society and still thankfully won. China is in no position to do what Japan did. The US has too much of an edge, politically, economically, technologically, militarily, and culturally.
There are reasons why many Chinese prefer to live in America or in Europe than at home. These reasons are related to personal freedom. The new Chinese despot Xi Jinping is increasing those reasons.
There are reasons why not only Japanese, but even Vietnamese want to be close to America, closer than to China. Beijing attempts at strong-arming its neighbors, e.g. in the South China sea, increase those reasons.
There is a saying that pride is the child of success. And the assassin of his father.
Simon Stevanovic. Be careful about saying the US has a cultural edge over China. This smacks of xenophobia. How can you rate the culture of one nation superior to the culture of another nation?
AmeriKKKa is the fading dying ex-superpower trying to bluff its way back into the Alpha Dog role. Call Trumpski’s bluff, China, and you will go far. Remember his huffing and puffing and fire-and-brimstone saber rattling with North Korea? Now he can’t wait to get on his knees and orally service Kim Jong Un. And his bluster about China interfering with America’s upcoming midterm elections, in the wake of his own proven conspiracy with Russia to rig the 2016 election, is the height of the bombastic hutzpah that has made Humpty Trumpty the most overrated fraud in AmeriKKKan history.