' This meme is getting around in China and is what accounts for statements starting two years ago as regards the South China Sea to Vietnam or the Philippines saying openly 'We are a big power and you're not a big power and therefore you should follow what we say.

WSJ: The Weekend Interview with Charles Hill: The Empire Strikes Back

Its ability to defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion, say, or even to back up the Philippines or Vietnam in a clash with China over a contentious rock in the South China Sea relies on its willingness to see these conflicts become wars involving the superpowers or even nuclear confrontations.

ECONOMIST: Banyan

Without that, its attractions may come to seem limited: Thailand lacks the ultra-cheap workforce of Vietnam, the language skills of the Philippines or the relatively efficient bureaucracy and educated workforce of Malaysia.

ECONOMIST: Thailand

Just as in the Philippines in 1900, Mexico in 1913, or South Vietnam in 1961, things didn't turn out as American policy-makers had hoped.

NPR: 'Folly of Empire' Offers Critique of U.S. Imperialism

China is locked in a series of overlapping territorial disputes with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei, who claim either all or part of the South China Sea as their sovereign territory.

WSJ: Philippine Warship, China Ships in Standoff