Asia and the world waits in suspense for China to make good its threat to reclaim land on Scarborough Shoal, only 240 kilometers from the Philippines, as a prelude to building a military installation that will inevitably be protected by its surface-to-air missiles and fighter jets.

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The United States has made it clear to China this step is its line-in-the-sand China must not cross or face unspecified consequences.

That China might actually contemplate this dangerous move is bolstered by the stunning insult it inflicted on U.S. President Barack Obama at the Group of 20 or G20 Summit in Hangzhou, China that ends Sept. 5. Of all world leaders at the conference, Obama was the only one not met by a red carpet as he set foot on Chinese soil.

Observers said this snub was President Xi Jinping's way of telling Obama of how low his esteem is, and to punish Obama for urging China to abide by the July 12 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that nullified China's nine-dash line and with it China's claim to own practically all of the South China Sea.

Xi is known to hold a low opinion of Obama, a fact that might incite Xi to take reckless action on the calculation Obama will back down as Obama did in Syria during the poison gas controversy.

Obama has long been plagued by a perception of being a pushover more interested in pursuing peace than demonstrating U.S. military resolve against China and Russia, its main strategic foes that are now in the process of forming a de facto military alliance to dominate the world.

In response to the arbitration ruling, China has threatened to militarize Scarborough Shoal, which is owned by the Philippines, but has decided to begin process after the G20 summit.

The Philippines has said it won't allow the Chinese to reclaim land on Scarborough Shoal.

Two U.S. Navy aircraft carrier battle groups are currently patrolling the South China Sea to head-off Chinese adventurism. The Pentagon has also stationed units consisting of all three of its strategic bombers -- the B-52 Stratofortress, the B-1B Lancer supersonic bomber and the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber -- to Guam to patrol Asian airspace.

Tagschina, Scarborough Shoal, Philippines, President Barack Obama, President Xi Jinping, South China Sea, Permanent Court of Arbitration, U.S. Navy