“The problem is that victory in the South China Sea is like finding a needle in a haystack when every problem looks like hay.” “The Chinese seem to be doing fine in the haystack,” says the navy officer. “The real problem is the US is playing chess while China is playing go,” says the diplomat, referring to the ancient Chinese game. Like chess, go is easy to learn but hard to master. But go is more complex and requires greater patience, giving new meaning to the phrase “playing the long game.” “I agree,” says the army colonel, fist-bumping the diplomat.
