November 9, 2015

"As the world knows by now, on Oct 27, the USS Lassen - an Aegis guided-missile destroyer based in Yokusuka, Japan - sailed within 12 nautical miles of China-claimed and occupied Subi and Mischief reefs in the South China Sea.

China's initial response was anger - but so far subdued - leading some to speculate that the Lassen incident was a tempest in a teacup and that the United States and China have put it behind them.

Despite the Lassen incident, the navy chiefs of China and the US were quick to declare that their bilateral exchanges would continue."

The writer is adjunct senior scholar at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies in Haikou, China.

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http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/uss-lassen-incident-chinas-possible-responses