So if this is a secret, covert project, as many people have speculated, it seems to be going on in a rather confrontational, provocative way...

所以如果这是一个秘密暗地里进行的计划，就像很多人所推测一样，此不明飞行物似乎以一种相当对抗的具挑拨的行径来到我们的领空。

youdao

McQueen turns 40 next week, so he is no longer an enfant, though his work remains challenging and confrontational, especially this season, when it seems like the right moment for a deeper exploration.

麦奎因先生下周满40岁，因此他不再是小孩子，虽然他的工作仍然充满挑战和对抗，特别是本赛季，他似乎进入了一个更深的探索区域。

youdao

In addition, some girl will feel extremely bored, and parents, confrontational and deliberately bad habits and so on.

此外，有些女孩还会感到极端无聊、和家长对着干以及故意学坏等。

youdao

This matters: if bin Laden was in effect in an ISI safe house, it would help explain why Pakistan-America relations have grown so dangerously confrontational over the past 18 months.

ECONOMIST: One year on, the story makes for a gripping read

And he's widely seen as more confrontational than Clement, so the White House apparently thinks that this temporary appointment will spur the Democrats into moving more quickly on Mukasey.

NPR: White House Took Care in Vetting Mukasey

So the answer was not strident or confrontational, but an attempt to sound unthreatening, a little humble even.

BBC: 'A lot to be done': Hu tackles human rights