Former U.S. Navy Adm. Timothy Keating said that when he visited China in 2007 as chief of U.S. Pacific Command, a senior Chinese naval officer proposed a deal to divide up the Pacific Ocean, giving the U.S. control of the eastern Pacific region while China would control the western Pacific.
Although Keating said the offer was perhaps tongue-in-cheek, it suggested the direction in which China was heading with its military strategy at the time.
If the same offer was made today by Chinese President Xi Jinping to U.S. President Joe Biden, it would be no laughing matter.