South China Sea Showdown: America Must Step Up to Face Off with China

South China Sea Showdown: America Must Step Up to Face Off with China

China is prepared to reject the UN’s decision. What is America going to do about it?

Coupled with this might be an aggressive diplomatic effort to create a system to manage marine resources—primarily fish. Intentional destruction of the common environmental heritage of the global commons should never go on without paying a severe political price. This should also allow us to regain a bit of dominance in the ongoing competition over the narrative. The creation of a system that establishes and enforces rules of conduct over fish and minerals can be a positive for those industries, and for the countries of the region.

Trade deals do not have to wait for us to sort out the TPP again. Our industries, our states, our municipalities can be far more adept at the retail level than the federal government. Sister city, sister county and similar arrangements are guaranteed to have more local salience than something designed in Washington to fit all. We already have significant activity underway, especially in agriculture. Let’s accelerate this at the grassroots level.

Many multilateral initiatives must include China. We will need to reach a new level of candor here—we can all mutually benefit but we have to be operating on the same rules. We need to talk again about human rights and about World Trade Organization compliance. But at the same time we can prosper through mutually growing economies.

Wallace C. Gregson is a retired Marine, former assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs 2009–11, currently senior advisor at Avascent International and senior director for China and the Pacific at the Center for the National Interest.

Image: Arleigh Burke–class guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur during a missile firing exercise​. Flickr/DVIDSHUB.