U.S. Congressman Takes Provocative Flight Over Disputed Spratlys

A U.S. Congressman was flown in a Philippine military aircraft over the disputed Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands on December 10, where he observed several Chinese warships in the area. Coming right before the ASEAN summit, this will, once again, raise tensions between the Philippines and China, as well as between China and the U.S. While the reasons behind the flight stem from both U.S. and Philippine domestic and foreign policy debates, the outcome is likely to be a disruption of the ASEAN summit. The Philippines has vowed to bring up the issue of Chinese aggressiveness at each level of the summit meetings, and the increased attention to this issue brought on by the U.S. visit to the Philippines will likely overshadow the important economic cooperation talks scheduled for the summit.