Fear of China gnaws at summit in Washington

News Snapshot:

A subcurrent of worry pulsed through a summit this week in Washington between the leaders of the U.S., Japan and the Philippines. The concern in question holds global dimensions. It involved a gnawing fear that the world's once-dominant superpower is woefully ill-equipped for the possibility of a maritime standoff in Asia. America's promises to defend its friends in the event of a conflict with China are butting against increasingly unfriendly math involving ships, budgets and workforce. It explains the flurry of U.S. co-ordination with countries located halfway around the world from actual conflicts raging now in Ukraine and the Middle...