Meanwhile, in the South China Sea: “Forget the US”

J.E. Dyer: Senator James Webb (D-VA) told David Gregory on Meet the Press three weeks ago that he thinks the US is facing a “Munich moment” with China in Southeast Asia. While no exact analogy is on the horizon to the original Munich moment – Neville Chamberlain proclaiming “peace in our time” after agreeing with Hitler to the partition of Czechoslovakia – Webb’s larger point is that China’s career of aggression in the South China Sea needs checking.

The South China Sea dispute is about whether the US will enforce an international “rule of law” environment in which longstanding conventions are honored, smaller nations are not imposed upon, and threats to shipping are not allowed to gain the upper hand.