CHINA-LED SECURITY ESCALATION SHAPES ASIA-PACIFIC

The most important Asia-Pacific story is the intensifying China-U.S. security rivalry, especially around Taiwan and wider maritime routes. Recent Chinese naval, air, and maritime patrol activity near Taiwan, along with expanded patrols toward the Pacific, underscores rising coercive pressure in the region. At the same time, regional states are responding through closer defense cooperation, including multinational air drills involving South Korea and broader Indo-Pacific alignment. Trade and economic interdependence remain a stabilizing force, but the dominant trend is a harder security environment driven by great-power competition.