Use it or lose it: Seagoing nations must defend embattled waterways
By James R. Holmes, opinion contributor — 01/27/19 09:00 AM EST
Great Britain is returning to seaways “east of Suez,†decades after freeing its colonies and withdrawing, more or less, to the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. A warship from Britain’s Royal Navy demonstrated on behalf of nautical freedom in the South China Sea last September, drawing a stern rebuke from China. This month the frigate HMS Argyll joined the destroyer USS McCampbell for six days’ worth of exercises in the South China Sea.
Beijing will doubtless grouse anew.
To say this token of allied solidarity constitutes a welcome development understates matters. All seafaring nations have a stake in freedom to use the sea for mercantile and military endeavors; all of them should help defend freedom of the sea where it is in peril, including the contested Sea of Azov and South China Sea. Britain’s return to Asia thus warrants a cheer from the age of sail, when ships were made of wood and mariners were steel: “Huzzah!â€
https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/426331-use-it-or-lose-it-seagoing-nations-must-defend-embattled-waterways
