The World Affairs Council of Charleston (WAC) hosts six speaking events each year as part of their WAC Speaker Series, three in each the spring and fall. The December meeting of the 2019-2020 seasons will be on Wednesday, December 11, 2019, at The Citadel Alumni Center, 69 Hagood Avenue, Charleston. It begins at 5:15 pm with a reception and the lecture will follow at 6:00 pm.
The featured speaker will be Greg Poling of the Center for 
Strategic and International Studies in Washington and the topic is “Island Nation by Island Nation, Steadily, Significantly, China’s Presence in the Pacific Region is Growing. Is This at U.S. Expense and Does it Matter?”
WAC describes the topic as follows: For years, China has been moving into the South China Sea. It builds up remote atolls, making them militarized outposts astride international shipping routes. This policy understandably attracts a lot of attention. It is very alarming to neighboring South East Asian countries and very much to the U.S. Navy. More quietly, China is also making a major push to build up its physical presence, its political and economic influence, among island countries of the region, starting with the Philippines, but also the large number of Pacific island nations whose lack of development makes them vulnerable to enticements. Just a few weeks ago, a Chinese company closely aligned to Beijing signed a 75-year lease to take over an entire island in the Solomons, raising a lot of local trepidation about what it means. Analysts speak darkly of Beijing’s long-term ambitions in the Pacific. Are Australia and New Zealand also in Beijing’s line of vision?
To read more about World Affairs Council and the featured speaker, Greg Poling, click here.
–Tidelines Editors
(Image and content credit WAC website)