U.S. Warns China Not to Annex (More) Asian Territories and Islands



Don't worry. According to Obama and Kerry, using these troops is not proper for the 21st-- and it's a sign of weakness too.

Or else what? My bet is that Kerry will tell them that they're not acting properly for the 21st Century. *gag*

From Reuters:

China should not doubt the U.S. commitment to defend its Asian allies and the prospect of economic retaliation should also discourage Beijing from using force to pursue territorial claims in Asia in the way Russia has in Crimea, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday. 

Daniel Russel, President Barack Obama's diplomatic point man for East Asia, said it was difficult to determine what China's intentions might be, but Russia's annexation of Crimea had heightened concerns among U.S. allies in the region about the possibility of China using force to pursue its claims. 

"The net effect is to put more pressure on China to demonstrate that it remains committed to the peaceful resolution of the problems," Russel, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asia, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.  

Russel said the retaliatory sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States, the European Union and others should have a "chilling effect on anyone in China who might contemplate the Crimea annexation as a model." [Bwah ha ha! Stop it! You're killing me!]  

This was especially so given the extent of China's economic interdependence with the United States and its Asia neighbors, Russel said.  

[...]  

Russel termed the deployment of large numbers of Chinese vessels in its dispute with the Philippines in the South China Sea "problematic" and said that Beijing had taken "what to us appears to be intimidating steps." 

"It is incumbent of all of the claimants to foreswear intimidation, coercion and other non-diplomatic or extra-legal means," he said. 

In Asia, China also has competing territorial claims with Japan and South Korea, as well as with Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan in potentially energy-rich waters.

Oh yeah, and also various islands (including Pagasa Island) located between Japan, China, and the Philippines.

China has somewhat recently turned to hard-Left regime, and as the country slumps economically, as the living conditions for China's citizens continues to deteriorate, China has focused more and more on the expansion of its territory. Nothing drums up support at home like a great, patriotic conflict against usurpers and aggressors.

Beyond that, Marxism is never self-sufficient so it has to expand, find a patron to pay its bills, or collapse. There is no patron large enough to cover China's expenses, so it has to either expand or reform. And there's really to incentive for the Chinese leadership to reform.

I really don't think that the State Department staff sending out selfies of themselves is going to worry China all that much.