Tensions in the South China Sea have been on the rise following a number of incidents at sea and tough rhetoric among the claimants to the sea's waters and islands.

Only by continuing to act on the high seas as it always has can the United States hope to maintain a system of international rules that serves its own interests. Ratifying UNCLOS could very well have the opposite effect.

Withholding needed arms from Taiwan in the present makes a future conflict--and US intervention therein--more likely. A cordial relationship with Beijing today wouldn't seem to be worth the future costs to the United States.

The U.S. military should maintain a more defendable presence on the territory of as many U.S. Asian allies as welcomed, until all can be assured that China will be a responsible and democratic great power, uninterested in creating its own exclusive economic or military spheres.

In the face of this Chinese buildup, Washington needs to do more to maintain its air-power superiority. Its aging F-15s and F-16s increasingly will be unable to match more modern Chinese counterparts, and even the far superior skills of U.S. pilots can't make up for outdated aircraft.

If recent events are any indication, the world's most vigorous nuclear competition may erupt between Asia's two giants: India and China.

As China's military strategy develops, so should a serious US response to it.

China is after more than just economic dominance, as it has continueda military buildup at a pace no one predicted.