I think you really hit in your last statement: It's a soft projection of power. And that's not theoretical if you think about China in relation to Russia, Japan

I think you really hit in your last statement: It's a soft projection of power. And that's not theoretical if you think about China in relation to Russia, Japan, India and of course the US. It's also important to keep in mind that China has a very active interest in brining back Taiwan and in oil interests near Vietnam or even Indonesia.