The First Island Chain is formed by three key American allies and partners facing China to the west: Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines. The second chain stretches from Japan to the island of New ...

with a strategic timeline that dates back to the 1980s that includes goals of exerting control first within the First Island Chain, and then within the Second." The strategic aim of China in the ...

In the western Pacific Ocean just east of the island ... the second island chain, lies the deepest point on Earth – the Mariana Trench. In the crushing darkness of this hidden realm, China ...