There are many lawmakers on Capitol Hill who seem to agree with the conclusions of the Cox report. They would like tensions to heighten so that they can intervene on the side of Taiwan. Any U.S. pledge to protect Taiwan is a commitment to prevent the island's reunification with China. From the Chinese point of view, this is a ploy to prevent the country from emerging as a major power. While it is not against U.S. trade and investment in the country, it refuses to kowtow to U.S. unilateralism.
China has valid reasons to be wary of the U.S. game plan in the region.
Nye tried to argue that the reason for the forward deployment was the threat from North Korea. However, this argument had few takers. The Chinese leadership has justifiably concluded that the massive U.S. presence in the neighbourhood is aimed at China. The Japanese government, on the other hand, was going out of its way to convince China that it did not have any nefarious designs. The spy plane that was involved in the incident over the South China Sea had taken off from a U.S. air base in Okinawa.