s the 14th annual Asia Security Summit — or the Shangri-la Dialogue, as it has come to be known — gets underway in Singapore, FP partner ChinaFile asked contributors to comment on what appears to be a recent escalation in tensions between the U.S. and China over the two countries’ presence in the South China Sea.

Yanmei Xie, Senior China Analyst, International Crisis Group:

The game has changed in the South China Sea. By sending a military aircraft to take a close-up view of the outposts China is constructing and stating it “will fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows,” the U.S. appears to have drawn a red line for Beijing.

Washington demonstrated its substantive investment in freedom of navigation and open access to Asia’s maritime commons and displayed resolve to counter threats to them. The message, delivered via the navy, will discredit a calculation by some Chinese and regional actors that the United States is unwilling or incapable of delivering more than verbal protests, because it is distracted by crises in other parts of the world. It may also stiffen the spines of other players, most importantly the Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN).

Read more: https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/05/29/what-should-the-u-s-do-in-the-south-china-sea/