Steven Metz writes on China’s growing air-sea battle capability (or “high-intensity, regional military operations, including anti-access and area denial (A2AD) operations” in defense-analyst-speak):
Military capability is only part of the equation: China also has the motivation to use its growing military power. It has long-standing and unresolved territorial disputes with a number of Asia-Pacific nations. It remains dependent on imported energy and has shown a willingness to flex its muscle to protect access to its sources. And most of all, China seems determined to replace the United States as the dominant power in the Asia-Pacific region. To do this, it must negate U.S. military power and fill the ensuing vacuum with its own.
Read more at WPR Article | Strategic Horizons: U.S. Must Change Its Thinking on Conflict in Asia.