Why the South China Sea Fuels U.S.-China Tensions

For decades, the U.S. has guaranteed freedom of navigation in Asia’s waters, patrolling the seas with a view to maintaining the principle that no sovereign state shall suffer interference from another. China’s growing military prowess, combined with a dogged assertiveness over its territorial claims, is testing the old ways and providing a potential flashpoint for the two powers, increasingly at odds over issues from cybersecurity to Covid-19. That tension is felt most keenly in the South China