China marches on

While the US Navy was planting mangroves in Cebu, the Chinese Navy was conducting exercises in the Indian Ocean. So China is now expanding the scope of its provocations. And the surprise is that, as of this writing, India has so far not reacted.

India, of course, does not own the Indian Ocean, which derived its name from that great country more out of proximity than territorial association. But given the circumstances between the two countries -- they have been at war, and China is warm with Pakistan, to whom India is cool -- India should have bristled.

In fact, last year when China began assuming a more aggressive posture in its territorial assertions, a tit for tat flared between the two countries. Good thing the exchange was only on paper, although of the highly official kind.

China started it by issuing new passports that sport a map claiming certain areas in northeastern India as part of Chinese territory. India retaliated by issuing new passports of its own showing maps that have the disputed areas back in Indian territory.

Any faceoff between China and India will always be significant because both countries are economic and military giants in their own right. As military giants, both have nuclear inventories in their respective arsenals. And they are the only two countries in the world with populations of over a billion people each.

Aside from the Chinese provocations in its own pond, India has every reason to be riled by Chinese aggressiveness. India has arrangements with Vietnam for a joint economic exploration of certain parts of the South China Sea, which China considers its own pond.

At some time during last year's increasingly bothersome Chinese posturings, India actually said it will assist Vietnam against China but left out any details. However things may go in this new theatre of conflict, the one incontrovertible fact is that, in its own neighborhood, China is making more enemies than friends.

The thing that bears asking at this point is where China is getting the audacity to do the things it is doing. Despite its economic and military clout, China is not head and shoulders over the rest of the powers. At best, it can approximate each of the powers individually but not all of them together as one common enemy.

In fact, if it wanted to, the United States on its own can put a credible check on China provocations. The one drawback the US has is that it is not a direct party to any of these provocations, which all involve US allies but never its own self.

Could this be the reason why, despite its rhetoric and occasional showing off, the US has never done anything that China might consider as a truly aggressive act? Is it true what they say of the US, that it is only looking out for its own interests?

To be sure, it is not a crime to look after one's own interests. Everyone needs to secure their own backyards first before checking in on the neighbor's. The only notable exception here is, of course, the US because of the peculiar role it has imposed upon itself.

The US is the world's policeman. More importantly, it is the world's policeman of its own volition and choosing. Nobody thrust it upon the role. Its assumption of it was unilateral. And the reason for that is, well, its own interests.

To protect its own interests, the US has to volunteer and project its uniquely powerful assets and capabilities into the role of that policeman. Without it, the world could collapse into chaos and, with it, its own interests. Hence the US as we know it.

Of late, however, the US seems to be slipping up on its role. And nowhere is this more apparent than in Asia, and at a most critical time when its economic and military rival, China, is doing what the US should be stopping. Is the US weary of its role? And will others like India be the understudies to step up?