China pushing rivals’ limits in regional disputes, say analysts

China’s campaign of confrontation, from remote reefs in South-east Asia to Taiwan and far-flung Japanese islands, is designed to wear down regional rivals competing with it for contested territories, analysts say. “The number of fronts where an accident could spiral suddenly is very real,” Dr Dylan Loh, an assistant professor at Singapore’s NTU, told AFP. The latest flashpoint is Sabina Shoal, just 140km west of the Philippine island of Palawan and roughly 1,200km from China’s nearest major landmass, the island of Hainan.

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