Asia Alone:The Dangerous Post-Crisis Divide from America
By Simon Tay (Wiley, $24.95 £16.99)
Last month, Hillary Clinton told delegates at an Asian security gathering that the US supported the peaceful resolution of territorial disputes in the South China Sea. The US would be willing to facilitate multilateral negotiations, the secretary of state said. Twelve of the 27 nations attending, including Vietnam and other countries that have long-running maritime disputes with China, supported her initiative. Beijing was unhappy. It claims almost all of the South China Sea – with its shipping lanes and oil and gas deposits – for itself. China prefers to deal with its neighbours one by one, rejecting attempts to “internationalise” the issue.