Opinion | Why the US continues to stir up the South China Sea despite the Covid-19 body blow
- Covid-19 has infected US military bases, grounded ships and cancelled military drills. But, for America, the South China Sea is indispensable to its hegemony in the Western Pacific, and a vital issue in an election year
Covid-19 has dealt a body blow to the United States, including its military combat capabilities and deployment. It is reported that the virus has been found in at least 150 US military bases and on four aircraft carriers. Nevertheless, the US military has continued to make waves recently through its operations in the South China Sea, in its relentless pursuit of hegemony in the Western Pacific.
This year, the US has mainly conducted four types of military activities in the South China Sea – navigation, training and exercises of military vessels; reconnaissance and overflight of military aircraft; freedom of navigation operations, and; military diplomacy, including providing help to, as well as exchanges and joint exercises with, the littoral states of the South China Sea.
To make up for a possible weakening of its power in the South China Sea after the incapacitation of some of its ships, the US military has increased the number and frequency of its flight missions in this region.
Why is the US military intensifying its efforts in the South China Sea after its capabilities were weakened by Covid-19?