The US Ambassador to the UK, Warren Stephens, has warned that China is deliberately using its maritime power as a tool of "political coercion", telling the International Maritime Organization Council that it is a challenge "we cannot afford to ignore". He accused Beijing of pursuing an aggressive strategy of acquiring port concessions and infrastructure worldwide not merely for commercial gain, but to extend its strategic reach and weaponise that access against sovereign nations. The warning matters because it frames control of global shipping lanes, ports and supply chains as a growing security threat rather than a purely economic issue.

Stephens stressed that the US was "not a passive observer" but a "cornerstone of the global maritime economy", noting that America's maritime transportation system supports $5.4 trillion in annual economic activity and nearly 30 million jobs. His remarks came alongside President Donald Trump's renewed push, made at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, for US control of Greenland, which Trump argued was surrounded by Chinese and Russian vessels and should be governed by Washington rather than Denmark for the sake of global security and free navigation in the Arctic.