In refreshing its competition strategy against China, the U.S. has revealed changed tactics since the Cold War era, embracing an “integrated campaign” that makes use of cooperation, competition below armed conflict, and armed conflict.

The U.S. military said on Wednesday it sent a Navy warship through the Taiwan Strait, which separates Taiwan from China, a move likely to anger China during a period of tense relations between Washington and Beijing.

Top American and Chinese defense officials will lay out rival visions for the Indo-Pacific region as they meet in Singapore this week amid a bruising global trade war, tensions over China’s push for technology leadership and the specter of stalled U.S.-North Korea nuclear talks.

Two navy warships sailed near islands claimed by China in South China Sea on Monday.

Whenever the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and National People’s Congress (NPC) hold their annual sessions in March, the subject of Chinese military spending features prominently in US media as evidence of the growing “China threat.” This year is no exception.

Acting Defense Secretary Shanahan highlighted China in remarks to civilian leaders of the U.S. military.

Tensions between the two countries flared on military as well as economic fronts.

The rise in US military spending is unnecessary and hostile.

Despite Mattis’ harsh criticism of China at the Shangri-La Dialogue, he was careful enough to strike a balance. He said that the U.S. would continue to pursue a constructive results-oriented relationship with China and to cooperate wherever possible. He even recognized the “Indo-Pacific” order which, widely taken as a thinly-veiled strategy against China, has a role for China.