WSJ on sharp move and plan by Hillary Clinton to set up multinational legal process for Asian nations to resolve claims in the South China Sea.
Naturally, China is pissed, preferring to keep the whole mess on a bilateral basis, which would allow Beijing maximum advantage in bullying smaller neighbors. Having it all out in the open complicates China’s claims.
Yes, as the piece argues, it’s “a move that could raise new tensions with China,” but it’s well worth the hassle. The competing South China Sea claims are the last-gasp hope for the big-war-with-China crowd that exists in our national security community, primarily because the old standby dream, the Taiwan scenario, is bleeding out its plausibility with the signing of the free-trade agreement linking the island with the mainland.
This is exactly the kind of far-sighted stuff Clinton should be pursuing—a truly impressive achievement.
The multilat process is to be based on the international law of the sea—even better despite our long-standing problems with it.