In its strategy to deter China from driving the US out of Asia and the Western Pacific, US Pacific Command has quietly shifted its focus from North- east to southeast Asia, especially the South China Sea and nations along its littoral areas. To dissuade China, the US has begun positioning forces which could threaten China's supply lines through the South China Sea. The oil and raw materials transported through those shipping lanes are crucial to a surging Chinese economy—an economy paying for Beijing's swiftly expanding military power.
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