Kerry, Kerry, quite contrary...

So, Big John is going to Beijing. And he's going to carry a (big? small?) stick. And he's going to talk loudly. Whatever happened to "Talk softly and carry a big stick"?...

The Straits Times

John Kerry is about to talk very tough in Beijing over the South China Sea

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/john-kerry-is-about-to-talk-very-tough-in-beijing-over-the-south-china-sea-2015-5#ixzz3aEDN3Pn5

The US and China just raised the stakes in the South China Sea

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-us-and-china-just-raised-the-stakes-in-the-south-china-sea-2015-5#ixzz3aEEmhm7T

So now, the Chinese are bristling...

China cautions U.S. Navy on patrols in South China Sea

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/13/politics/south-china-sea-us-surveillance-aircraft/

Incidentally, the US has been telling China -- a signatory to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) -- to abide by UNCLOS' territorial claim and dispute settlement regime. But, guess what, the US has yet to ratify UNCLOS:

The Straits Times

Mr Kerry will be very busy in Beijing. But what will he and the Chinese leaders really talk about behind closed doors out of range of the media's microphones? If he's good, he might even get a chance to meet the terracotta warriors in Xian, like India's Narendra Modi did...

Now that's a stony reception there! Cold hands too. Actually, Mr Modi was effusively received by his real-life Chinese hosts and he got to press the flesh. Warm flesh, that is.