The Taiwan Strait Update

     So, the US Navy sends two ships into the straits that separate mainland China from Formosa.  The Nationalist Chinese claim independence from Communist China.  Communist China claims that Taiwan is a breakaway province that illegally occupies the offshore island.  As a result of this posture, the Chinese claim those international waters as their own.  here we go again.  Seems lie only yesterday the TAIWAN STRAIT WAS THE PLAYGROUND OF THE US 7TH FLEET: THE LARGEST, MOST POWERFUL ARM OF US FOREIGN POLICY.  Those days are long gone, however, never to return.  But, with the passage of these two frigates, the US is stating that it will not yield the accepted definition of international waters and the Law of the Seas.  China will not be able to roll forward on its plan to expand its sphere of influence as it has in the South China Sea.  It's a game of cat and mouse: a game with a high profile as nobody can hide anywhere these days.   This is a different game than those economic games that have dominated the headlines for months.   Just today,  farmers in North Carolina that produce tobacco for export were complaining about the 35% tariff China has imposed on their crop.  China is the largest consumer of American tobacco with over 350 million smokers countrywide.  Can you imagine: how many deaths will occur in China as these smokers succumb to diseases directly connected to their smoking?  Maybe the Chinese government is embarking on a health improvement program: stop imports of tobacco-save lives by the millions.
Time will tell: maybe the US Navy will start delivering cigarettes when they pass through the Straits again?