China leverages dangerous secretsBy Brahma ChellaneyChina notoriously has the world’s largest navy and coast guard — the result of a 10-fold increase in military spending since 1995 — which it uses to advance its pugnacious revisionism. Today, China is building a naval base in Cambodia, which has leased to Beijing one-fifth of its coastline and some islets. China said it has invested in the base, but only Cambodia’s navy would have access to it. Opacity has also been a defining feature of the lending binge that has made China the world’s largest sovereign creditor to developing countries. That is why, barring a major strategic blunder by Xi, China’s salami-slicing expansionism is likely to persist.

Source: Taipei Times August 12, 2023 18:00 UTC