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Carrier absence and drills
China’s push to expand in Asia is unfolding as the United States moves warships around its Iran-focused operations, leaving the western Pacific without one of its key aircraft carriers as the USS George Washington departs the Pacific and is expected to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East.
“Beijing “is quite happy with U.S. distraction, with the frustration of U.S. allies and partners.””
Fortune quotes Greg Poling, director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, saying Beijing is “quite happy with U.S. distraction, with the frustration of U.S. allies and partners.”
In the South China Sea, the New York Times describes the “worst clash in years between China and the Philippines” at the Second Thomas Shoal, where a Chinese Coast Guard vessel began circling the ship named the Sierra Madre and, at one point, used small boats to move in on Filipino service members and beat one of the men with a wooden baton, inflicting head injuries.
The same New York Times analysis says China blamed the Philippines for provoking the clash, while the American ambassador expressed outrage and declared that the United States stood with the Philippines, the oldest U.S. treaty ally in Southeast Asia.
Fortune adds that China conducted naval exercises this week with Indonesia and recently showed signs of aggression toward Japan and the Philippines, and it notes that China carried out military drills this month near the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.
Allies question deterrence
The New York Times reports that Asian allies are beginning to wonder whether the United States would or could defend them in a war, and it ties those doubts to “the enormous distraction and resource drain of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.”
In the same analysis, the New York Times says the American ambassador declared that the United States stood with the Philippines, while the article also states that “no one expects China to curb its expansionist activities in the region anytime soon.”
yalibnan frames the same South China Sea clash as “China, Philippines trade blame in latest South China Sea clash as China continues to bully its neighbors,” and it says the American ambassador expressed outrage and declared that the United States stood with the Philippines.
yalibnan adds that there are growing doubts among Asian nations over what the United States would be willing to do to deter China, given the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, and it says the United States is running low on critical weapons, including air defense interceptors.
In a separate thread within the same yalibnan account, it quotes Representative Gregory W. Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, saying Trump’s strategy is “a gift to China that is undermining U.S. credibility and harming our national security.”
Electric trucks and regional stakes
Beyond security, TRT World reports that U.S. war on Iran has sparked a surge in China’s electric truck sales, with China’s exports of electric trucks to other Asian countries spiking as higher fuel costs accelerate regional electrification.
“The war has opened the door to these new markets”
TRT World says that in the four months after the US and Israel launched the war on February 28, China’s exports of heavy e-trucks more than doubled from the same period last year to 16,823 vehicles, and it adds that half went to South and Southeast Asia.
The same TRT World report quotes Sany vice president of international marketing Zhaoting Yue telling Reuters, “The war has opened the door to these new markets,” and it says Sany is the world’s biggest maker of electric heavy trucks.
TRT World also cites fuel-price pressure, saying diesel prices are up 48 percent in Sri Lanka since the start of the war and 57 percent in the Philippines, according to GlobalPetrolPrices.com, while the fuel is 15 percent higher in China, government data shows.
In the FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2026 coverage, FIBA notes that China and Iran “aced their respective assignments” in Group C on Friday at the Veer Savarkar Indoor Stadium, with China beating Sri Lanka 103-55 and Iran beating Qatar 94-69, as the teams swap opponents this Sunday, August 15.