INTRO: Under President Barack Obama, US Navy ships regularly sailed through the hotly contested waters of the South China Sea.
These exercises, known as freedom of navigation or F-O-N operations, were designed to reassert international access to waters increasingly dominated by China.
But according to the New York Times, no US ship has been within 12 miles of a contested island since Donald Trump took office.
And with tensions high on the Korean peninsula, analysts say the US could be pulling back in the South China Sea to strengthen its partnership with China.
Giles Gibson sent this report from Washington DC:
IN: "China is building..."
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Script
China is building in the South China Sea, turning deserted rocky outcrops into air strips, ports and military bases.
Until recently, US Navy ships would regularly sail within just a few miles of the expanding islands to send a message to Beijing.
Michael O'Hanlon, a foreign policy analyst in Washington DC, says the recent slowdown in freedom of navigation operations is a worrying trend.
Byte Michael O'Hanlon
Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Brookings Institution
"Perhaps there's the idea of an incentive to China, that if you help us with North Korea or if you hold off on adding military assets to the region or reclaiming more islands in the South China Sea, that we will show restraint ourselves, if that's the thinking I am a little concerned that it's a poor tactic because the whole point here is that our access is supposed to be non-negotiable."
During the campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly railed against China and threatened to label the country a currency manipulator.
But since he took office, the Trump administration has changed tack.
His Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, now says China is the key to a future deal on North Korea.
Byte Rex Tillerson
US Secretary of State
"The assumption was that China has limited influence on the regime in Pyongyang, or they have a limited willingness to assert their influence, and so I told the President we've got to test that. And we're going to test it by leaning hard into them and this is a good place to start our engagement with China."
But analysts say the US isn't leaning on China by steering clear of contested islands in the South China Sea, but rather taking backward steps.
Byte Michael O'Hanlon
Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Brookings Institution
"I am quite confident that no American president and no Pentagon run by Jim Mattis, and no Pacific Command run by Harry Harris is going to back off on the idea of guaranteed US international access to the waters of the South China Sea. The question is just how are they trying to time it and are they being a little too cute and precious in how they try to get this integrated within a broader strategy."
Right now...North Korea is dominating Donald Trump's foreign policy agenda. He wants to use a stronger relationship with China to help him put pressure on Pyongyang.
The concern for US allies in South East Asia though...is that working together on North Korea won't stop Chinese fortress-building in the South China Sea.
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