Contrasting Chinese and American perspectives were on display at the recent Shangri-La Dialogue, when U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter challenged Beijing over its island expansion program. Privately the possibility of war has emerged as a serious topic in Washington. Both nations should draw back from their increasingly dangerous game of chicken.
China's territorial claims involve a complex mix of control, historical practice, international law and treaties. In the view of most observers, Beijing's claims are extravagant. Yet they are not unprecedented.
James Knox Polk became U.S. president in 1845. America had annexed Texas after the latter's violent secession from Mexico and claimed a new national boundary set well beyond land populated by secessionists. Washington also took an aggressive posture in dealing with Great Britain about setting the U.S.-Canada border in the Pacific Northwest.