This is bad news for Taiwan and the region, as experts warn China is steadily escalating pressure without crossing into open conflict, while urging Washington and Taipei to tighten their response.

• China keeps using "gray-zone" tactics — coast guard patrols, maritime law enforcement, and expanded jurisdiction claims around the East China Sea, South China Sea, and Taiwan — to shift the status quo without triggering a real war.
• Experts are calling for the US and Taiwan to deepen cooperation on coast guard operations, cybersecurity, energy resilience, and defense.
• They also want closer coordination with Japan and the Philippines to collectively push back on Beijing and keep the region stable.
• A separate warning noted that US and Taiwan interests and risk views don't always line up, so Taiwan needs to keep strengthening its own defense, democratic governance, and public resilience regardless of shifts in US policy.
• On a related note, Taiwan and the University of Tennessee signed an education and research partnership, with plans to expand cooperation in Chinese-language teaching, AI, and semiconductor talent training.

Outlook: Expect China to keep testing limits with non-military pressure, while the US, Taiwan, Japan, and the Philippines move toward tighter coordination to counter it.