US rejects nearly all Chinese claims in South China Sea
Source: AP
By MATTHEW LEE and LOLITA C. BALDOR
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration escalated its actions against China on Monday by stepping squarely into one of the most sensitive regional issues dividing them and rejecting outright nearly all of Beijing’s significant maritime claims in the South China Sea.
The administration presented the decision as an attempt to curb China’s increasing assertiveness in the region with a commitment to recognizing international law. But it will almost certainly have the more immediate effect of further infuriating the Chinese, who are already retaliating against numerous U.S. sanctions and other penalties on other matters.
It also comes as President Donald Trump has come under growing fire for his response to the COVID-19 pandemic, stepped up criticism of China ahead of the 2020 election and sought to paint his expected Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, as weak on China.
Previously, U.S. policy had been to insist that maritime disputes between China and its smaller neighbors be resolved peacefully through U.N.-backed arbitration. But in a statement released Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. now regards virtually all Chinese maritime claims outside its internationally recognized waters to be illegitimate. The shift does not involve disputes over land features that are above sea level, which are considered to be “territorial” in nature.
In this photo provided by U.S. Navy, the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and USS Nimitz (CVN 68) Carrier Strike Groups steam in formation, in the South China Sea, Monday, July 6, 2020. China on Monday, July 6, accused the U.S. of flexing its military muscles in the South China Sea by conducting joint exercises with two U.S. aircraft carrier groups in the strategic waterway.(Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jason Tarleton/U.S. Navy via AP)
Read more: https://apnews.com/07dc9cff9d42047cfcf28799112eb59d
= new reply since forum marked as read
I have been expecting military adventurism from him as his polls plummet.
China might be too big a target though, I was/am expecting some open attack on Iran, but I guess Trump thinks the public is bored with cruise missile attacks.
Dangerous times, tRump is getting desperate.
I raised the issue of Trump wagging the dog and using this as a distraction.
Other people are free to, and have, raised other points about the OP article, but did not address them to me in this subthread.
It's that simple.
Care to comment on whether tRump is using this as yet another distraction from his inept handling of the pandemic?
Why?
The timing of it. There has been no recent triggering incident except Trump's plummeting poll numbers.
I feel that trump is employing the well known technique of evoking military posturing to short circuit criticism of himself on other issues.
This technique is so well known it has a name, wagging the dog, and was even the subject of a movie many years back. Either Dustin Hoffman or Al Pacino starred in that, I always confuse those two. 
Thanks for understanding my desire to keep this subthread more or less on topic.
Here’s the guy calling the shots...
