After a series of diplomatic notes to the United Nations opposing China’s maritime claims, the United States’ allies have been sending warships to the East Vietnam Sea. Singapore scholar Dr Collin Koh Swee Lean noted that Beijing is even acting on the momentum of confidence because it has been able to curb the COVID-19 pandemic and was the only major economy to achieve positive growth in 2020. “While China is consolidating its gains in the sea (and for that matter, other regional maritime flashpoints), taking advantage of the distraction of its rivals over COVID-19, it’s also engaged in posturing against the Americans, who are still regarded as the primary challenge to China’s attempts at exerting dominance in the waterway,” said Collin Koh, who is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies under the RSIS.