China’s Military Puts Pacific on Notice as U.S. Priorities Shift

China has in recent weeks staged military drills off Australia and Vietnam, sending pointed warnings near and far. Neither was a full-fledged exercise. But taken together, China’s recent shows of force, experts said, conveyed a message: the region must not ignore Beijing’s power and claims.

Three Chinese naval ships, including a cruiser with 112 missile tubes, showed up in the waters near Australia this month, only announcing plans to fire artillery for practice after the exercise had started. A few days later, on Monday, Chinese forces held live-fire drills in the Gulf of Tonkin, after Vietnam pressed its territorial claims in the gulf. Meanwhile, Chinese military aircraft buzz the skies near Taiwan almost daily.

While Washington is consumed with other matters, from Ukraine and the Middle East to budget cuts at the Pentagon, China keeps pressing. The exercises, while relatively brief, highlight that China’s military reach is likely to keep growing, regardless of whether the Trump administration ultimately tries to confront China or pull it into some kind of deal.

The series of drills aimed to show scale and scope, “showcasing China’s expanding naval capabilities and ability to project power across multiple theaters simultaneously,” said Nguyen Khac Giang, a visiting fellow with the Singapore-based ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.

“The timing, with many in the Indo-Pacific region concerned about the U.S. commitments under President Donald Trump, is just perfect.”

The People’s Liberation Army had been growing more active long before Mr. Trump took office, and China held far larger exercises near Taiwan last year. In its own sometimes ominous way, experts said, China is trying to persuade governments in the Asia-Pacific region that, like it or not, their future lies in accommodating Beijing. And that includes its claims to democratically governed Taiwan and over much of the South China Sea, which is disputed by Vietnam and other countries.