China Games

China seems to be up to its old tricks. In a recent incident, five Chinese ships surrounded the USNS Impeccable, a U.S. Navy surveillance ship, in international waters. The five Chinese vessels harassed the Impeccable and its crew, before the ships separated.

This is reminiscent of an incident during the first few months of the Bush administration, when in April 2001 one of our surveillance planes collided with a Chinese fighter jet that was pressuring our plane to leave its patrol area. Our plane had to make an emergency landing on Chinese soil, which prompted China to hold its crew and plane hostage before releasing the crew (but they kept the plane).

The incident's significance lie in China's efforts to test the mettle of President Obama. Our response should be to increase our patrols and surveillance activities, to demonstrate we won't be intimated.

I wonder if, in fact, we are doing that.