Time to Launch a Combined Maritime Task Force for the Pacific
Eric Sayers
June 1, 2018
Commentary
On his way to the Shangri-la Dialogue this week, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis recited familiar talking points to discuss how the United States would keep up a “steady drumbeat†of naval exercises and freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea. But while the United States has continued to fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows in the western Pacific Ocean, China has continued unabated with efforts to build out its military infrastructure in the South China Sea and deploy new methods to coerce its neighbors in the maritime domain. The United States needs new ideas to generate regional balancing against Chinese behavior while simultaneously deterring future actions like the consolidation of control at disputed features like Scarborough Shoal.
https://warontherocks.com/2018/06/time-to-launch-a-combined-maritime-task-force-for-the-pacific/
