Dean Cheng

The Chinese will absolutely interpret The Chinese as being directly connected, having a better sense of how American bureaucracy works, I'd be more skeptical.

This is a long-term issue that is not going to go away. by Dean Cheng

This is a long-term issue that is not going to go away.

What we have is China pushing very hard into the South China Sea, physically, politically, illegally and diplomatically, and the United States refraining from doing very much at all.

That message is, in a nutshell, 'Stop pushing us. We are not goin... by Dean Cheng

That message is, in a nutshell, 'Stop pushing us. We are not going to be lectured'.

It is living up to what the Chinese have been saying, 'We are now a blue water navy. We will operate in the far seas and we are a global presence'.

The Chinese are delighted because Obama’s problems highlight that America is unpredictable, and they have large sums of money to throw around.

This should be of enormous concern -- $5.3 trillion in trade transits through the South China Sea; this is one of the major arteries for world trade … China’s actions are clearly an attempt to establish dominance over this vital set of waterways.

We know at least one, possibly two, of these islands; they are preparing to build airstrips … they look like they are being prepared to allow them to base fighter aircraft or military helicopters out there.

The Chinese military are playing a larger role in the South China Sea dispute. With the possible introduction of the U.S. Navy into the area, we are now looking at the possibility of two militaries staring at one another.