2024-09-17
8 分钟The Economist. Hi, it's Alice Su.
I co-host Drum Tower, our weekly podcast on China.
Here's an article handpicked from the latest edition of The Economist read out loud.
I thought you might enjoy it.
On August 31st,
a Chinese cutter rammed the largest patrol ship of the Philippine Coast Guard,
punching a hole in its side.
It was the latest attempt by China to force the Teresa Magbanua to leave Sabina Shoal,
where it has been stationed since April.
No one was injured.
But the incident is part of an emerging new pattern of escalation and confrontation in the South China Sea,
particularly around the Spratly Islands.
According to one account, Wang Yi, China's top diplomat,
warned Jake Sullivan, America's national security adviser,
that China would not accept a Philippine present at Sabina during their meeting near Beijing in August.
The evidence points to a novel phase in the struggle for the South China Sea.
Whether China and America can safely contain the nerve-shredding contest is far from clear.
A major redrawing of the map of the South China Sea began when Xi Jinping came to power in 2012.
In the subsequent three years, China built seven new bases in the Spratly Islands,
three of them with large airfields,