China pushing rivals' limits in regional confrontations, say analysts

Escalating actions come as its military strength grows and rivals draw closer to US

China's campaign of confrontation, from remote reefs in South-east Asia to Taiwan and farflung Japanese islands, is designed to wear down regional rivals competing with it for contested territories, analysts say.

Beijing in recent years has asserted its claims in the long-running disputes far more boldly as its military strength has grown.

The escalating actions over islands claimed by Japan in the East China Sea that Tokyo calls Senkaku and Beijing calls Diaoyu, the selfruled territory of Taiwan and the South China Sea - have also come as Beijing's rivals have drawn closer to the United States.

"(China) believes its strong-arm tactics are paying dividends," Mr Duan Dang, a Vietnam-based maritime security analyst, told AFP.

China has, in recent months, deployed military and coast guard vessels in a bid to eject the Philippines from a trio of strategically important reefs and islands in the South China Sea.

"The number of fronts where an accident could spiral suddenly is very real," Dr Dylan Loh, an assistant professor at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, INVEST 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.