An increasingly muscular China, too, presents the incoming Trump administration with significant military challenges. Among them are Beijing's moves to establish military footholds on artificial reefs and islets in the South China Sea, which has become a flashpoint. The nonmilitary centerpiece of the administration's Asia policy is the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation trade pact that has not yet been implemented. He has gone aboard U.S. Navy aircraft carriers plying the contested waters of the South China Sea. His two-week trip, which also will take him to the Mideast and Europe, highlights the breadth of challenges facing defense policy as the White House changes hands.

Source: Fox News December 05, 2016 18:40 UTC