Scarborough Shoal: China throws the US pivot a lifeline

After a shaky week, the pivot to Asia got a lifeline from an unlikely source—the People’s Republic of China.

The PRC apparently let it be known through public channels that island-building Scarborough Shoal was a distinct possibility. This gave credence to the recent high-profile commotion over Scarborough Shoal—recently marked by a close approach by A-10 “Warthog” fighters and HH-60G Pave Hawks helicopters (used for special ops insertion and extraction)—as something more than self-serving alarmism by China hawks at the Pentagon.

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But it would be pretty outrageous for a variety of reasons. First off, a look at the map reveals the shoal is very close to the main Philippine island of Luzon and would fall within any reasonable Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone. Second, there are no existing structures on Scarborough Shoal, so island building would be a flagrant breach of the ASEAN Code of Conduct standstill agreement. Third, putting a runway on the Shoal would create a plausible military threat to Philippine and US military facilities on Luzon.

But the PRC seems to be stating its determination to (mixing metaphors here) pour gasoline on the smoldering South China Sea fire and provide much-needed oxygen to pivoteers in Washington.

http://atimes.com/2016/04/scarborough-shoal-china-throws-the-us-pivot-a-lifeline/