中国正在试图逐渐将军事控制范围扩大到它所主张的80%多南海海域，与此同时，中国在东海的目标是打破所谓的“第一岛链 ” 。 第一岛链是位于东海的一系列群岛，其中包括钓鱼岛和台湾岛。
While seeking to enlarge incrementally its military footprint in the more than 80% of the South China Sea that it claims, China’s aim in the East China Sea is to break out of the so-called “first island chain,” a string of archipelagos along the East Asian coast that includes the Senkaku Islands and Taiwan.