When Hillary Clinton said last month that the resolution of territorial disputes in the South China Sea was in the US national interest, she threatened to upset a delicate diplomatic balance that has been maintained for the past decade.
That restraint has held in check a potentially explosive cocktail composed of China's pursuit of energy security, its neighbours' fears about its growing power and US concerns about Beijing's military expansion in an oil and gas-rich area. The sea is also home to key shipping lanes.
The US secretary of state drew attention to Washington's growing anxiety about the region when she added her voice to calls for a multilateral approach to resolving territorial disputes in the South China Sea during an Asian security forum, calling the issue a “leading diplomatic priority”.