[Travis McGee]

“Acting belligerent?” Are you on joking? Testing and preserving the freedom of open sea travel has always been one of the main missions of the USN, going all the way back to Mahan a century ago.

China, or the USSR or anybody else declaring “no-go zones” on the open ocean are going to be tested and pushed back.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Thayer_Mahan

[ken5050]

During the cold war, it was a common USN tactic to run support vessels into the path of Soviet trawlers who were shadowing the carrier groups too closely..

Don't misunderstand me..I'm not defending the Chicoms here..Red China is obviously attempting to project forces, likely sensing a weakening of American resolve.

The real danger is if a Chicom on-site commander loses it...then an incident can easily happen, and escalate rapidly..