China is willing to tolerate higher levels of tension in the South China Sea in pursuit of its interests but seeks to avoid direct conflict with the United States, the Pentagon said. China is using coercive tactics short of armed conflict – such as the use of law enforcement vessels to enforce maritime claims – in ways that are calculated to fall below the threshold of provoking conflict, the Pentagon said in its 2016 China Military Report to Congress released on Tuesday. Chinese leaders understand that instability or conflict would jeopardize the peaceful external environment that has enabled China’s economic development, central to the perpetuation of the communist party’s domestic legitimacy.

Katigbak, J. (2016, May 19). China avoiding clash with US in South China Sea. The Philippine Star, p. 15.