Here is a simple scenario to show how “balancing” could work. Any non-kinetic move China makes to undue the status quo in Asia would be met with a countermove of equal significance that reinforces our allies and partners’ military capabilities. So, for example, China tries to take over another reef in the South China Sea. what would America do? Well, one real possibility: Washington could decide its time to sell Taiwan those F-16 C/D fighters it has been requesting for years as well as partner on helping advance its domestic submarine program— and float the idea that Taipei could even receive the F-35. The strategy is simple: China moves to solidify its position in one area, we could counter with our allies and partners in another.

As I have said in the past, Washington must begin to craft some sort of organized and coherent strategy when it comes to China— and not one that focuses on trade or profits but ensures there will be costs for its coercive actions. Long gone are the days of hoping Beijing would become a “responsible stakeholder.”

Such a strategy need not adopt the same bullying or confrontational tone that Beijing has employed, but a show of strength to halt Chinese attempts to alter the status-quo and to ensure stability throughout the Indo-Pacific. We too have the capability to craft strategies short of war that can also maintain the status-quo and reinforce the existing international order. The best way to do so is for Beijing to know that we are more than happy to “balance” its moves in the wider Indo-Pacific.

Harry J. Kazianis serves as Editor of RealClearDefense, a member of the RealClearPolitics family of websites. Mr. Kazianis is also a non-resident Senior Fellow for Defense Policy at the Center for the National Interest and a non-resident Senior Fellow at the China Policy Institute (non-resident). He is the former Executive Editor of The National Interest and former Editor of The Diplomat. Follow him (or yell at him) on Twitter: @grecianformula.

Image: Flickr/ Official U.S. Air Force