Chinese efforts, during the last year, to force U.S. naval forces to operate farther away from the Chinese coast, have suddenly disappeared. All these actions, often involving threatening moves by Chinese military and non-military ships against non-Chinese military ships, disappeared. There was no announcement, but it was apparently a reaction by the international community protests against earlier efforts. The concept of keeping foreign warships far away from Chinese shores is very popular with most Chinese, and not acceptable to Americans. China wants the U.S. to keep its military ships and aircraft 371 kilometers from the coast (the distance international law recognizes as the "economic zone"), rather than 22 kilometers (the distance international law recognizes as "territorial waters"). Ignoring international agreements on this subject, China seemed determined to bully the U.S., and other navies, into backing off to the 371 kilometer line. In response, the U.S. led an international refusal.
Secure in the knowledge that America would not cave in to this demand, other Asian countries sided with us against China. So pushing hard just led to a harder push back, including naval build ups by those other Asian countries worried about China.
So it would appear that China has decided to go back to the diplomatic side at their annual Boao Forum for Asia to see if they can isolate America in this resistance to China's line in the sea 371 kilometer out:
In his speech, Hu said the people of Asia have a shared mission to promote common development. He also sought to appeal to a sense of camaraderie - especially among China’s closest neighbors.
The Chinese leader stressed that Asians belong to one family.
In recent years, China has been involved in maritime territorial disputes over islands in the South and East China seas. The conflicts have prompted a regional backlash that has seen many of the rival claimants draw closer to the United States, which is the region’s dominant naval power.
One family for Asians and Hu's your daddy? So if China can get all Asians to work as one team with China to keep non-family members (America) out of Asia, Peking can go to work again on that 371-kilometer line without provoking neighbors to oppose China more.
I'm sure it will work out better for Asia than the last time Asia for the Asians was trotted out.
UPDATE: Asian fresh water for the Chinese, too, as downstream Asians look to China to explain their water woes:
The blame game, voiced in vulnerable river towns and Asian capitals from Pakistan to Vietnam, is rooted in fear that China's accelerating program of damming every major river flowing from the Tibetan plateau will trigger natural disasters, degrade fragile ecologies, divert vital water supplies.
I'm starting to think that Chinese soft power sophistication isn't as great as some here try to make it out to be.
