The US president and his team have made much of their desire to put Beijing in its place, including in the strategically vital waterway, which China claims almost entirely and where it has reclaimed — and fortified — thousands of acres of land, according to the Pentagon. Observers quickly pointed out the full-scale blockade this would require was likely to provoke a military response from Beijing — a response that might be enough to make the US think twice. While Beijing may have a poorer and less well-equipped military, it is stocking its arsenal with submarines, anti-ship missiles and other weapons tailor-made to neutralise Washington’s most valuable naval assets, they say.

US faces stiff China pushback in S. China Sea: experts. (2017, January 26). The Manila Times, p. A6.