The USS Higgins entered China's Huangyan Island waters on August 13 — the first such intrusion since China established its territorial sea baseline there last year.

Why did it happen right after the Philippines-provoked August 11 incident? That's no coincidence. It was the US stepping in to back Manila — and spurring it toward even more dangerous provocations.

Just a day earlier, Washington released its latest "freedom of navigation" report, naming China as the most "challenged" country — from a nation that has never even ratified the UNCLOS. Another move straight from the US playbook to stir trouble and undermine peace in the region.

The rhetoric of "freedom of navigation" and these on-site provocations fit together seamlessly — the same old US formula: meddle in the South China Sea, then wrap it in a shiny slogan.?