US Navy destroyers. US Navy
Business Insider: It looks like the US has been quietly lowering the threshold for conflict in the South China Sea
* The US has been putting increased pressure on the Chinese maritime militia, a paramilitary sea force disguised as a fishing fleet, in an effort to deter provocations in the South China Sea.
* The US Navy's top admiral told his Chinese counterpart earlier this year that provocations by militia vessels would be treated the same as those carried out by Chinese navy warships.
* Last week, the US ambassador to the Philippines told reporters that US defense obligations to its ally could be triggered by maritime militia attacks.
* Troubling incidents involving Chinese fishing vessels are not uncommon in the South China Sea, and while this rhetorical shift in the US position could deter aggression to encourage stability, it could also signal a lower threshold for confrontation and, possibly, conflict in the disputed waterway.
The US has been steadily ratcheting up the pressure on China's sea forces in a way that could lower the threshold for conflict in the South China Sea, which is already a hotbed of tension.
The US is signalling a tougher stance toward the Chinese maritime militia, a paramilitary sea force disguised as a fishing fleet that is known to sometimes harass foreign rivals to enforce China's vast sovereignty claims in the contested waterway.
The Chinese maritime militia "thrives within the shadows of plausible deniability," according to Andrew Erickson, a leading expert at the US Naval War College, but it can no longer hide like it once could.
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WNU Editor: Their maritime militia follows the rules and guidelines as outlined by the Chinese government via through their Navy. This change in U.S. policy is long overdue.
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