Put yourself for the moment in the shoes of a Chinese strategist, pondering, as they have for decades, ways to check and undermine the dominant role the US has maintained in east Asia since the end of the Pacific War.
Beijing already has many options in play, building a navy to challenge the US on the oceans, establishing military bases in the South China Sea and pushing back against American surveillance flights along its coast.
As it did in Manila in early August, at the annual meeting of south-east Asian nations, Beijing is trying to peel off regional neighbours, most recently the Philippines, into a new Sinocentric club.
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