Asian Waters: The Struggle Over the South China Sea and the Strategy of Chinese Expansion

by Humphrey Hawksley

In his 2007 book War Plan Orange Edward Miller neatly lays out the cause of the war. I ask readers to go through this passage, substituting China for Japan: The geopolitical premises of the plan held that, in spite of historically friendly relations, a war would erupt someday between the United States and Japan, a war in which neither could rely on the help of allies. The root cause would be Japan’s quest for national greatness by attempting to dominate the land, people, and resources of the Far East. America regarded itself as the guardian of Western influence in the Orient. Its popular dogma favored self-determination of peoples and open international trade. To achieve its goal, Japan would feel it necessary to expunge American power from its sea flank.12