South African columnist and political consultant Shannon Ebrahim recently introduced the question what would the reaction of US be if China deployed its navy and air force into the Caribbean. As the dispute over South China Sea comes to be a heated topic in western media, the author argued that the US Asia-Pacific re-balancing strategy initiated in 2009 marks the turning point of the South China Sea dispute.

By Shannon Ebrahim

Why does the US feel it has the right to endanger Chinese national security interests in the South China Sea?

Johannesburg - It becomes tiresome to continue unravelling stories of the US meddling in regions far away from its shores, trying to weaken other countries in order to maintain its global dominance. The more one delves into the reality of the conflict in the South China Sea, it becomes clear that the US actually thinks it has a right to manipulate regional dynamics in China’s backyard so as to encircle it as a rising superpower.

What is more incredible is that the US believes it has the right to send 60 percent of its naval fleet and 60 percent of its overseas air force into the South China Sea by 2030. If this is not the ultimate display of arrogance then I don’t know what is.

What would the reaction of US policymakers be if China decided to redeploy the bulk of its navy and air force into the Caribbean? What if such a deployment could be used in a future war to enforce a blockade against the US by choking a strategic shipping route that carried 80 percent of US trade and energy supplies?

The answer without a doubt is that no country would ever be allowed to endanger US national security interests in such a way. So why does the US think it can get away with doing the same thing to China?