Special to WorldTribune.com

By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com

The Hu Jintao leadership is mapping out measures to blunt what Beijing perceives is an enhanced effort by Washington to counter China’s power projection in the Asia-Pacific Theatre.

While visiting Australia on Nov. 16, President Barack Obama and host Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced that U.S. Marines would be based in the North Australian port of Darwin. The initial deployment of 200 to 250 Marines will expand to 2,500 within five years.

U.S. officials have indicated that since Darwin is only 820 kilometers from Indonesia, the troops could be used to tackle security issues in the South China Sea and other hot spots in the region.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Manila on the same day to give backing to the Philippines’ effort to convene an international conference to resolve sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea.

While China claims ownership over the entire South China Sea, its sovereignty is disputed by countries including the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and Taiwan.

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  Barack Obama, Beijing decides on two-pronged strategy to blunt Obama’s ‘anti-China containment policy’, Darwin, Hillary Clinton, Hu Jintao, Julia Gillard, Philippines, South China Sea, U.S. Marines