China is exaggerating small maritime moves near Taiwan into shows of authority, a low-cost pressure tactic aimed at Taipei and its partners.

• Beijing announced a "joint exercise" with an Indonesian warship east of Taiwan; Jakarta said it was only a routine passing greeting at sea.
• The Indonesian ship was sailing home from Russia and Japan, doing the same brief hello drills with several navies along the way.
• Earlier this month China declared "traffic control" in the Taiwan Strait during a typhoon, though it never went beyond radio broadcasts.
• Taiwan's maritime and China policy agencies called it a power grab, since the strait is international water.
• Washington pushed back quickly and urged other countries not to echo Beijing's claims.

Outlook: Expect more of these loud-but-small gray-zone moves, with the US responding fast because the shipping lanes around Taiwan carry the world's chip supply.