Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a policy speech on Dec. 14 that the United States will “advance a free and open Indo–Pacific,” and hit out at China for its aggressive actions in the region. “We’re determined to ensure freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, where Beijing’s aggressive actions threaten the movement of more than $3 trillion worth of commerce every year,” Blinken said during the speech at the University of Indonesia on Tuesday. China is currently locking horns with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Taiwan in a territorial dispute over reefs, islands, and atolls in the South China Sea. A 2016 international ruling rejected Beijing’s vast territorial claims over the disputed sea. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has ignored the ruling and taken aggressive tactics to stake its territorial claims, such as deploying its coast guard to deny ships from other nations access to the …