![]() It has been operating near the outer edge of Malaysia’s 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ), off the state of Sarawak, since late 2019. The target of China’s motley but highly coordinated maritime force was the West Capella, a drillship working under charter to Petronas, Malaysia’s state-owned energy company. Two Chinese navy destroyers and a frigate subsequently arrived on the scene. Marines-patrolled, with its two escorts USS Bunker Hill and USS Barry, in close proximity to a Chinese survey ship, Haiyang Dizhi 8, and its accompanying screen of coast guard vessels and fishing boats, the latter widely assumed to be part of China’s maritime militia. Unfortunately, few in the region are likely to view it that way.įor several days, starting on April 20, the USS America-a small carrier equipped with a handful of F-35 jets, helicopters, and an embarked force of U.S. ![]() Navy to some cynically timed Chinese adventurism in the South China Sea, offering reassurance to wavering Southeast Asian countries that Washington still has their back in the midst of a global pandemic. On the face of it, the recent standoff along Malaysia’s Borneo coast was a robust response by the U.S.
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