Reckless showboating ignores real risk of triggering trip wire

That warships from extra-regional countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Canada and Australia, glide through disputed waters in the South China Sea is purposeful showboating. The Report on the Military Activities of Non-US Extra-Regional Countries in the Western Pacific in 2025, published on Tuesday by the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative, an international research network that recorded their appearances, reads more like the record of the cast performing on an increasingly crowded stage.

According to the think tank report, about 200 warships from 18 extra-regional countries operated in the region in 2025, while their military aircraft logged more than 20,000 sorties. These operations appear designed to mislead audiences back home rather than meet the actual security needs of the region.

A destroyer sails through contested waters, officials issue carefully worded statements about "shared values", commentators praise "firmness", and ministers collect photographs that project "toughness" without, theoretically, requiring sacrifice.