Sometimes, we need to step back in time & space to see a problem more clearly. This INDOPACOM graphic shows more & more PLA Navy & Coast Guard presence in the South China Sea in the first 7 yrs of Xi’s rule. An updated version would show more bright red inside the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone. In sum: PRC maritime colonialism is well underway. The CCP's creeping approach to territorial aggrandizement doesn't make this threat any less dangerous.
Patrick Zoll
4mo
Mike Studeman , do you know if the data used for these maps is publicly available? Our visualization team would love to produce similar maps to go with articles on the SCS in my newspaper. But I assume the data is from classifieds sources, isn‘t it?
Tim T.
4mo
I see graphics like this with alarmist messages of China and the CCP aspirations. However, I also see a flood of Chinese products, investment, and land ownership in the US. Is this a “threat” or not? That question is one I often hear from folks not involved in the security sector. Until there is honest and open disclosure this “threat” will not be appreciated by the people who vote for our leaders. My personal thought. A very similar graphic could have been made in the 1930s-1940s from an Imperial Japanese perspective. A common mistake of “strategists” is looking at actions from their own perspective…I see much of that with the China issue…
Steve L.
4mo
China plays the long game. I don't know what game the U.S. is playing, but if they have a strategy to counter China's expansion and goal of replacing the U.S. as the world's economic, military and political leader, what is it?
The persons in charge at the Pentagone, the State Department and various agencies concerned should be staring intensely at this map daily and plan and act accordingly. Unfaillingly. Are they?
Dave McDonald
4mo
Mike Studeman They will be patient, until they won't be.
Richard G
4mo
Re name it the Philippine Sea… then they will not think they own everything with China stamped on it.
Burton Lee
4mo
Now do a similar graphic showing Filipino, Vietnamese, American, NATO, AUKUS, Japanese and Korean presence 2012 v 2024
Honor, Courage, Commitment, legal, ethical, moral, be good at the basics, and only you can give away your integrity. P-ARO USS Nimitz
4moThe question then becomes “so what?”. How do we get someone in middle America to care about this so far away. I am not by any means saying it does not matter, but diving into the issue of being a democracy. In a democracy, we have to convince the population that our intervention is worth the cost.