Last week’s confrontation between Russia and Britain in the Black Sea has highlighted a possible scenario facing China and other countries in the disputed South China Sea, observers said.

However, the military experts said the People’s Liberation Army would not react aggressively when dealing with its foreign counterparts in the region, to prevent the risk of an escalation.
The British destroyer HMS Defender was passing through Ukrainian territorial waters when a Russian patrol ship fired warning shots and an overhead jet dropped bombs in its path, according to Russia’s defence ministry. Britain has said there were no shots or bombs.

Some Chinese military websites said that – regardless of whether the Russians had responded – the incident showed the complexity of the situation in the South China Sea, with a number of nations increasing their military presence in the waterway, which is claimed by several Southeast Asian countries as well as Taipei and Beijing.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3139159/south-china-sea-risks-highlighted-britain-russia-encounter