Before the ink on the law had dried, China upgraded the administrative status of Sansha City, encompassing a group of disputed islands in the South China Sea, and established a military garrison.

CNN: China: New leaders, same assertive foreign policy

For this answer, I can do no better than to summarize the analysis of Australian National University professor of strategic studies Hugh White in his new book, The China Choice: Why America Should Share Power (2012 Black Ink Books, 191 pp.).

FORBES: U.S.-Japan Security Alliance Is Obsolete Leaving Japan Caught between China and the U.S. in a New Asian Order