Negative PR

China is using negative PR to defend its role in the South China Sea.  It is telling the Philippines and the world that it will not stop building bases on the tiny islands there to project its control.  it has dismissed the international court’s decision over its right to build these military bases even before the court has ruled.  It has warned the US to sail carefully in these waters.  It has said it will not sit idly by when there are provocations such as foreign warships passing too close to its possessions   China’s belligerence has deeply upset countries bordering the South China Sea, but there is nothing they can do.  They are too small and weak. Negative PR isn’t designed to win friends, but it is fashioned to warn people that an organization or individual will not tolerate actions against it.  It only works from a position of strength, which China has in abundance.  No one wants to go to war with China, so it is getting its way.  That is the result of negative PR.