US coastguard cutters have a South China Sea mission. Will it make a difference?

A US decision to redeploy half a dozen small coastguard ships from the Middle East to the South China Sea is unlikely to alter the balance of power in the disputed waters, Chinese analysts said. In a statement on Wednesday, the US Coast Guard said it had moved its Expeditionary Cutter Squadron to the western Pacific to conduct “maritime security operations and cooperative maritime activities with