Former Deputy National Security Advisor Victoria Coates analyzes the historic NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, where alliance defense spending has skyrocketed under new policy framework. Coates details the strategic impact of America's recent 80-target military response against Iranian forces, unpacks why sovereign control over Greenland remains an absolute national security red line and explains how the administration's foreign policy helped Ukrainian forces to secure stronger leverage.
China is using control over global seas as a tool of "political coercion," the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom warned, as President Donald Trump is restating his interest in Greenland for that very same reason.
China is seeking to turn ports, ships and supply chains into instruments of geopolitical leverage, U.S. Ambassador to the U.K. Warren Stephens warned in a statement to the International Maritime Organization Council (IMO).
"I spoke about a challenge that we cannot afford to ignore: China's systematic effort to use maritime power as an instrument of political coercion," Stephens wrote in a Truth Social post after the speech. "Beijing has pursued an aggressive strategy of acquiring port concessions and infrastructure around the world — not simply for commercial gain, but to extend its strategic reach and weaponize that access against sovereign nations."
The U.S. is "not a passive observer of maritime affairs," Stephens told the IMO, calling America a "cornerstone of the global maritime economy." He said the U.S. Maritime Transportation System supports $5.4 trillion in economic activity each year and nearly 30 million jobs.
China's designs on global sea power has the U.S. Ambassador to the U.K. Warren Stephens sounding alarms. (Zha Chunming/Xinhua)
The warning comes as Trump continued peacemaking efforts in the Strait of Hormuz and pressing Demark and NATO for U.S. co
