首先，一些东盟国家与中国的紧张关系正在升级，部分原因在于在习近平主席（邓小平以来最独裁的领导人）的领导下，中国在东南亚海域的争议性领土主张越来越咄咄逼人。
For starters, tensions between several Southeast Asian countries and China are on the rise, owing partly to the fact that China, under President Xi Jinping (its most autocratic leader since Deng Xiaoping), has been acting increasingly assertively in staking its contested territorial claims in the region’s waters.