[Alas Babylon!]

The fact that a rising superpower is claiming ownership over an area of strategic importance adjacent to their own coast is relatively unsurprising.

What the hell are you smokin', Jay?

Just look at the map you idiot!

These islands--in most cases just rocks poking out of the sea--are NOT adjacent to China.

They're adjacent to the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and perhaps Vietnam.

Decidedly NOT China.

[combat_boots]

Strait of Malacca: https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Facminc.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fmap-of-malacca-straits.jpg&f=1

[Chaguito]

Jay’s two major sources are the NYT and Guardian. The Guardian quotes read like pure Soviet propaganda. The NYT only slightly better. The article seems to be poorly thought out.