ANALYSIS: Don’t expect Beijing’s South China Sea ‘breakthrough’ to weaken US ties with Asean nations. “While Chinese state media hailed a new code of a conduct in the disputed waters as a ‘rebuke for foreign meddling’, Southeast Asian states are likely to be keen to maintain long-standing ties to Washington.”

Indeed. China’s naked aggression in the region seems more likely to strengthen American ties to smaller nations in the region than anything else.