The John Batchelor Show

VIDEO: Playing Defense

July 23, 2015

Wednesday   22 July 2015  / Hour 1, Block A: Walter Lohman, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Asian Studies Center, in re: China's aggression naturally causes its neighbors to ally to protect themselves, yet when they do China reacts negatively, as though it hadn’t occurred to Beijing that this would happen.   Freedom of navigationin the south China Sea is of much interest regionally.  Japan as the best navy nearby except theUS, but have historical constaints.   Need a credible, ready, forward-deployed force, which is the US right now.  In Subic Bay, in the Philippines: so far, have only two coast guard cutters (gifts from the US), but are starting to aseembvle a navy. "Places, not bases" US Navy concept. Also at Camranh Bay in Vietnam. In Filipino policy circle, anticolonialist blame of US is eclipsed by fear of China.  Beijing's endeavor to disparage the US as  a coloniaist force is to say it has a "Cold War mentality."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/15/us-southchinasea-philippines-subic-idUSKCN0PP2NN20150715 ; http://thediplomat.com/2015/07/why-is-indonesia-building-a-new-south-china-sea-military-base/