The United States’ Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPS) in the hotly-disputed West Philippine Sea is a failure, as the approach specifically aimed at countering China’s octopus-like creeping aggression has not altered Beijing from advancing its massive maritime and territorial expansion in the region. No less than two US maritime security experts – Patrick Cronin, a senior director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), as well as Hunter Stires, a fellow at the John Hattenford Center for Maritime Historical Research at the US Naval War College and Adjunct Affiliate for Maritime Strategy at CNAS – pointed this out in an August 2018 article for The National Interest magazine posted online. The two said the present approach of the US to counter China’s continued creeping aggression in the West Philippine Sea, referred to in the article as South

Laude, J. (2019, October 6). FONOPS to counter China in WPS has failed - experts. The Philippine Star, pp. 3, 10.