As China's President Xi Jinping asserts a new normal in Asia — one featuring a more belligerent Chinese presence — he is digging a deep diplomatic hole. The backlash in Asia may have been guarded, but the region's minnows are getting feistier.
For example, at a June meeting hosted by China, ASEAN foreign ministers issued a draft communique that embarrassed the hosts by suggesting — get ready for this bombshell — "what is happening in the South China Sea ... is an important issue in the relations and cooperation between ASEAN and China."
The ministers were not exactly being tendentious because this is the consensus of every sentient observer of regional affairs. Soon after this cheeky draft statement appeared, however, it was expunged, apparently because Beijing was deeply miffed at this sign of ASEAN impudence, muted as it may have been.