SHIFT IN THINKING The seizing by Chinese sailors of a US underwater surveillance drone in the South China Sea speaks to the kind of challenge President-elect Trump is likely to face early in his administration.

DECEMBER 18, 2016 PARIS—It is not customary to steal an item from someone and then give it back as a Christmas gift, but that is what the Chinese are doing to the United States. And Beijing is acting as if it were the aggrieved party.

Last Thursday, Chinese sailors snatched a US underwater surveillance drone that the USNS Bowditch was trying to retrieve from waters in the South China Sea.

It marked “the first example ever of the blatant theft of US military property operating in international waters,” says Ashley Townshend, an international security expert at the University of Sydney.

“It’s a signal that China is still wedded to its ambitions and its expansive claims in the South China Sea, and willing to undertake provocative actions to support them,” he adds.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/2016/1218/How-underwater-drone-could-set-tone-for-Trump-s-new-relationship-with-China