Obama Ignores Strategic Opportunities in South China Sea and Baltics

The BBC reported Wednesday that China "has deployed missiles in the South China Sea." Fox News earlier reported US military confirmation that China has deployed surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) with a 250-mile range on the disputed island. Fox satellite images appear to show two batteries of eight missile launchers, control vehicles and a radar system. Taiwan, which also claims the island, confirmed the SAM deployment. China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the reports were invented by Western media, telling a Beijing news conference the media should focus on lighthouses built in the South China Sea that "have been very useful in assuring the safety of passing ships." Chinese SAM deployment significantly increases tensions in the already heated South China Sea dispute caused by China's extensive land reclamation, which it says is legal and for civilian purposes. The reclamation has angered countries who also claim territory in the sea, a major shipping route, as well as fishing grounds supplying the livelihoods of people across the region. ~~~~~ Woody Island is the largest island in the Paracel archipelago, inhabited by 1,000 people -- soldiers, construction workers and fishermen. China established a permanent presence on the island in 1956 and in 2012 established a local government office to administer the whole South China Sea area. The Island, which has a military garrison, hospital, library, airport, school and mobile phone coverage, is claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam. Other areas in the sea are claimed by the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. South East Asian leaders meeting this week in California discussed the South China Sea. President Obama said they talked about the need for "tangible steps" to reduce tensions, including "a halt to further reclamation, new construction and militarization of disputed areas." A Pentagon spokesman told the BBC : "The United States continues to call on all claimants to halt land reclamation, construction, and militarization of features in the South China Sea." US opposition to navigation restrictions and unlawful sovereignty claims - and China's pushback - cause concern that the area is becoming a global flashpoint. ~~~~~ Meanwhile, Russian movements in waters around Sweden are pushing the traditionally neutral country toward NATO. Russian action in the Baltic Sea have put Sweden's Gotland Island back on a military footing. A new Gotland battlegroup will be ready by the end of next year, with a 300 full- and part-time force. Sweden ended Gotland's military status after the collapse of the Soviet Union and is restarting from zero. The new unit is tiny compared to the 20,000 military personnel stationed on Gotland during the Cold War, but officials say reinforcements could be sent in quickly. Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist is worried about Russian military activites in the Baltic, where Russian military aircraft frequently infringe Swedish airspace. In 2014, Sweden was on alert for a week after reports of a Russian submarine in the shallow waters near Stockholm. Hultqvist says : "What we can see is that there are more exercises, more military activities in the Baltic Sea...more proactive activities, flying close to our aircraft." Sweden doesn't believe Russia would launch an unprovoked attack on a country outside the former USSR, but Moscow is seen as increasingly unpredictable. Michael Byden, Supreme Commander of Sweden's armed forces, points to Ukraine : "Did we understand, before it happened, the annexation of Crimea? Did we understand that they were very close to starting something in Eastern Ukraine? This is one of the great challenges : what are they up to and why do they do it?" ~~~~~ Dear readers, whatever the reasons, Russia has forced Sweden to boost defense spending and to debate whether Sweden should join NATO. China's aggression is re-coalescing ASEAN nations around the US. It's a prime opportunity for US global strategic leadership but foreign policy isn't high on Obama's agenda, and he mistakes talk and the supply of military hardware for strategy.