#USChinaTensions
The South China Sea simmered under a blood-orange dawn. Captain Wu adjusted his headset, tracking the American destroyer on radar. *"They’ve crossed the line again,"* Beijing hissed in his ear.
Across the waves, Lieutenant Cole gripped the rail. *"Just a freedom-of-navigation patrol,"* his orders said. But the Chinese jets screaming overhead told another story.
Wu’s finger hovered near the missile lock. Cole’s crew scrambled to battlestations.
Then—a burst of static. A voice, strained but calm: *"Both sides, stand down."*
For now.