The US and China may go to war in the Pacific, soon. As of 2020 the chance of that happening is increasingly significant. Both began preparations for that long ago. The United States began the preparation of a new operational concept, known now as the AirSea Battle concept, aimed at restoring the previous capability to freely project power into the Western Pacific back in 2009, under Obama. It was intended to preserve the security architecture and US favoured status in the region. Metaphorically, this could be compared to ‘kicking in the door to the Chinese bar’ that had been arguably closed for the US Navy and its power projection in the littoral waters of East and South-East Asia.
