The looming possibility of military confrontation over the Taiwan Strait has been making headlines as of late. Chinese leaders consider these scenarios constantly, and their recent efforts to promote military-civil fusion show what they are doing to prepare for a crisis.

The Shangri-La Dialogue underscored the importance of military-to-military relations as a stabilizing factor in China-U.S. relations. While they have been the most sensitive and closely watched aspect, they have also been one of the few bright spots.

Once again the annual assessment is filled with unfounded suspicion and smears. Nevertheless, with relations at low ebb between China and the United States, relations between the two militaries will be the key to peace.

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.

Deepening Chinese activities in the Arctic region could pave the way for a strengthened military presence, including the deployment of submarines to act as deterrents against nuclear attack, the Pentagon said in a report released on Thursday.

The Chinese people love peace and countries should not threaten each other with the use of force, President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday as he kicked off a large-scale naval parade marking 70 years since the founding of China’s navy.

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.

In sanctioning a singular department of the Chinese military to place pressure on Russia, the U.S. has made a diplomatic error that threatens two of its critical bilateral relationships.

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

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.