While the U.S. military may say it doesn’t know exactly what kind of message the Chinese government is trying to communicate by placing missiles in the South China Sea, it’s not one that promotes peace. According to satellite imagery, China placed 16 surface-to-air missile launchers on an island along the Paracel Island chain called Woody Island. For months, China has been developing the shallow islands that lie within disputed territory between China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan. They’ve dredged the area, built artificial runways and while the country said it wouldn’t militarize the area, there sit the missiles that can strike targets 125 miles out. Commander of the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin, told reporters, “We are unsure where they are taking us. So we are going to sail, fly, operate throughout these waters … like we have been doing for so long.” So while the U.S. Navy continues to sail its “freedom of navigation patrols” and fly missions over the region, the cause of China’s aggression is a power vacuum created by the Obama administration. It was not a coincidence that the missiles appeared just as Barack Obama wrapped up a California-based summit with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations where one of the topics of discussions was the South China Sea. Obama is perceived as a weak leader, thus China — like Russia — is doing whatever it pleases.