The cornerstone of peace in our times is the modern nation state that respects the sovereignty of its neighbours and upholds the sanctity of borders that separate them. China's extraordinary ascent over the last four decades, from the 1970s when paramount leader Deng Xiaoping set it on the path of economic reforms to its growing geostrategic ambitions under President Xi Jinping, is testing this concept of sovereignty that arose in 17th-century Europe and has been through the experience of two world wars and the Cold War. China's assertiveness at its borders has been striking - from its territorial claims in the South China Sea which led to complaints about acts of aggression, like the sinking of a Vietnamese vessel in disputed waters in April, to Chinese vessels fishing and encroaching into the exclusive economic zones of other states, to deadly clashes in the Himalayas with India, as well as an increased Chinese military presence around islands in the East China Sea which Japan controls but China claims as its own.

This could well be the face of a new, muscular foreign policy that some see as commensurate with China's elevated status. Or it could be a departure that has seeds in the frailty of the current times when much of the world has its hands full with Covid-19, allowing Beijing leverage to push its claims and invoke nationalism, in part to channel discontent arising from its own initial mismanagement of the virus and economic uncertainties.