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 allies and partner nations in the region, in response to national security...