China’s actions in its sea disputes have been bewildering
and fraught with threat, and its threat and use of
force have alarmed states in Southeast Asia. Such a
belligerent foreign policy risks neutralising the goodwill
Beijing has built in the region over almost two decades.
While other South China Sea disputants, particularly
the Philippines and Vietnam, are not exactly innocent,
China has shown a disproportionate propensity to
punish and to physically assert its sovereign claims
in a manner that is disconcerting, and which frankly
frightens regional states.