Playing US-China’s chess game

Staking a claim: China’s People’s Liberation Army soldiers patrolling at the Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands, which is known in China as the Nansha Islands, in this file picture. — Reuters

KUALA LUMPUR: Asean needs to take a “relax view” on the show of strength between the Chinese and the Americans in the contested South China Sea maritime area but the region must maintain its solidarity and work for its collective interest.

Singapore former Foreign Minis­ter George Yeo said China and the United States would be playing a “very big chess board” for years to come, adding that he felt in the end both sides would be rational.