China has been increasing the scope, scale and pace of operations and interference in the South China Sea -- building military outposts, sinking Vietnamese fishing boats, disrupting Malaysian energy exploration, and flying too close to U.S. military aircraft operating lawfully in the area, according to a Defense Department official. Speaking at a House hearing Thursday, Lindsey Ford, DOD deputy assistant secretary of defense for South and Southeast Asia, offered an assessment of Chinese efforts to “assert control” over the South...
