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Alyssa Chen

Chinese researchers have called for more coordination among the country’s maritime authorities to counter an American strategy that has put pressure on Beijing across three critical waterways in the first island chain.
By synchronising operations across flashpoints in the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, Washington’s “three seas linkage” strategy aims to force Beijing into multi-front operations and strategic overextension, warned Yue Shengsong, an associate professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University, in an article on Monday.
The three waterways lie along the first island chain, which stretches along the East Asian coastline from the Kuril Islands down to Borneo, encompassing Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines.
The chain divides China’s near seas from the open Pacific Ocean. For Washington, it functions as a barrier to contain Chinese naval expansion.
Writing in the Pacific Journal, Yue recommended that Beijing strengthen coordination across agencies and build credible deterrence along with a resilient system for protecting its maritime rights.
“The country should establish cross-departmental mechanisms to ensure unified responses across the diplomatic, military, law enforcement, legal and communications domains,” Yue wrote.
“It needs integrated intelligence sharing, situational assessment and coordinated action to ensure a unified national effort when responding to any developments across the three waterways.”
Washington is deliberately manufacturing a sense of persistent tensions
Yue Shengsong, Beijing Foreign Studies University
The researcher also called for Beijing to be more involved in developing international maritime law and to adopt tailored strategies to divide Washington’s coalition.
The urgent call stems from what the researcher described as a systematic coordination of “military operations, alliance activities, rule-making power and cognitive narrative” to put pressure on China.
The US has historically treated East Asian maritime disputes as separate matters: territorial disagreements involving Japan in the East China Sea, sovereignty issues regarding Taiwan, and complex multilateral claims in the South China Sea.
“The defining feature of Washington’s strategy lies in how it pushes allies beyond their traditional single domain to construct a ‘nested alliance network’,” Yue said.
Japan, which has typically been more focused on the East China Sea, is now involving itself in South China Sea affairs through its Official Security Assistance programme, providing maritime security equipment and training to the Philippines and Vietnam.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi precipitated a major diplomatic rift with Beijing in November by stating that a People’s Liberation Army attack on Taiwan could be a “survival-threatening situation” for Tokyo.
“This marks a strategic intervention by Japan stretching from the East China Sea into the South China Sea, making Tokyo the key axis stringing the three seas together,” Yue said.
Meanwhile, the Philippines has evolved from just another South China Sea claimant into what Yue dubbed a “strategic springboard” since the US gained access to military bases in the country under the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement.
The accord, first signed in 2014 and expanded in 2023, allows US forces rotational access to nine designated Philippine bases – including facilities in northern Luzon within 400km (249 miles) of Taiwan – to conduct joint training, pre-position supplies and upgrade infrastructure.


“This interconnected set-up means a crisis in any single sea can easily spill over and trigger a chain reaction, vastly complicating Beijing’s strategic response,” he said.
Zhu Feng, dean of the school of international studies at Nanjing University, warned that intensifying US-China competition during US President Donald Trump’s second term was amplifying complications from third-party actors across the three maritime zones – a dynamic Beijing could not afford to overlook.
“Third-party involvement in the ‘three seas’ disputes is growing increasingly complex, with Tokyo adopting more aggressive positions and Manila repeatedly taking provocative actions in South China Sea disputes,” Zhu said.
“Beijing must be firm in asserting its sovereign rights while maintaining regional stability, and prioritising dialogue and dispute management to address differences rather than escalating conflict through confrontation.”
Yue said the immediate objective of Washington’s strategy was to put pressure and impose costs on Beijing.
“Washington is deliberately manufacturing a sense of persistent tensions,” he said.
“They rotate military presence at a high frequency, conduct these ‘freedom of navigation’ operations, back provocative moves by allies, and then annually publish reports that sensationalise what they call China’s ‘coercive’ actions.”
According to Yue, Washington is pursuing long-lasting results by “perpetuating” disputes that discourage bilateral diplomacy and interpreting international rules in its favour.
He added that Washington sought to dominate the narrative by weaponising international law under the banner of defending “freedom of navigation” and a “rules-based international order”.
“In the face of this, China must lead the international maritime rule-making,” Yue said.
“By proactively setting agendas, releasing position papers and engaging deeply in making international law, Beijing can expose American double standards and steadily elevate its voice in maritime governance.”


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The US mounts pressure across 3 maritime flashpoints. How should China respond?

A fighter jet takes off from China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier during a mission in the South China Sea and the western Pacific Ocean that concluded on June 22. Photo: CCTV

Chinese and Philippine maritime forces clash at Second Thomas Shoal

The Chinese coastguard vessel (front) and a Philippine dinghy square off near Second Thomas Shoal. Photo: X.com/SCS_PI

How Beijing’s islands of control are reshaping the South China Sea

 Illustration: Henry Wong

Tree Island, also known as Zhaoshu, is the furthest point from mainland China that Chinese civilians can visit in the South China Sea. Photo: Laura Zhou

Chinese tourists attend a flag-raising ceremony at Tree Island on June 27. Photo: Laura Zhou

Residential buildings on Tree Island, where some 200 Hainan fishermen have been provided with government housing. Photo: Xinhua

With its network of infrastructure across the South China Sea on locations like Tree Island, Beijing now has considerable geopolitical leverage in the region, analysts say. Photo: Laura Zhou

A Chinese-built airstrip and sprawling facilities on Fiery Cross Reef highlight how artificial islands have transformed Beijing’s strategic reach in the South China Sea. Photo: People’s Daily

New housing, sports facilities and radar installations on Tree Island reflect how China is embedding civilian and strategic infrastructure on its remote South China Sea outposts. Photo: Sansha Satellite TV via CGTN

China lodges protest with Philippines after latest clash near Second Thomas Shoal

The Philippines said one of its servicemen was injured after being hit on the head with a baton. Photo: X.com/SCS_PI

The stand-off took place near the grounded Sierra Madre. Photo: X.com/SCS_PI

The clash was the latest in a series of confrontations. Photo: Reuters

Does Beijing own Batanes? Why Chinese scholars’ claim is a warning shot to Manila

The Batanes Islands, an archipelago between Taiwan and the northernmost tip of the Philippine island of Luzon, were the focus of an academic discussion in southern China late last month. Photo: Getty Images

Manila says Philippine sovereignty over Batanes is “settled and not up for debate”. Photo: Gallo Images via Getty Images

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Washington’s strategy for Taiwan Strait and East and South China seas aims to force Beijing to overextend, analysts warn


Washington’s strategy for Taiwan Strait and East and South China seas aims to force Beijing to overextend, analysts warn.


The US mounts pressure across 3 maritime flashpoints. How should China respond?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Washington’s strategy for Taiwan Strait and East and South China seas aims to force Beijing to overextend, analysts warn

Washington’s strategy for Taiwan Strait and East and South China seas aims to force Beijing to overextend, analysts warn