China's neighbors may have half-believed Beijing's previous "smile diplomacy" and frequent reassurances that its rise posed no threat to regional peace and stability — but now everyone understands what hegemonic aspirations look like.
China's military build-up and assertion of territorial claims all over the region is seen as a menace requiring a response; Washington is surely benefitting from this counterproductive posturing.
Analysts have long warned about China's "string of pearls" strategy shifting the regional balance of power — a reference to its ambitions to build a network of ports in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar giving it Indian Ocean access. Now it looks more like China is stoking an arc of antagonism encompassing unhappy neighbors from Japan to India.