The United States should be willing to use military force to oppose Chinese aggression at a disputed reef off the coast of the Philippines, a former commander of US forces in the Pacific told a congressional hearing on Wednesday. Dennis Blair made the recommendation to a Senate panel, a day after an international tribunal invalidated Beijing’s expansive claims in the South China Sea. The objective was not to pick a fight with China at the disputed Panatag Shoal, internationally known as Scarborough Shoal, but to set a limit on its military coercion, Blair said.

Ex-admiral says US should defend Panatag. (2016, July 15). Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A21.