Beijing pushes island bid using drills and lawfare

THE PLAYBOOK: Beijing starts claims in the region with reinterpretations of history by academics, followed by ‘law enforcement’ actions and missile tests, the source said By Su Yung-yao and Fion Khan / Staff reporter, with staff writer China aims to control the First Island Chain through naval maneuvers and legal warfare, a national security source said yesterday, urging Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines to act early to counter the threat. In the 10 years since a tribunal administered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration on July 12, 2016, ruled that China’s claims to historic rights in the South China Sea within its “nine-dash line” had no legal basis, Beijing has not only failed to rein in its authoritarian expansion in the region, but has also displayed greater outward aggression, despi