The past two weeks have been tense ones in the Eastern Pacific after China declared an expanded air defense identification zone that encompasses territories disputed by several countries. Tensions have been heightened even more as Vice President Joe Biden stopped today in China and urged Chinese citizens to “challenge the government.”

On November 23rd, China’s new sphere of identification went into effect, and was almost immediately violated by two American B-52 Stratofortress long range bombers. 

Though the bombers exited the zone without incident, the violation indicated to the world that Washington does not respect Beijing’s new declared zone, as one U.S. general indicated that American military aircraft would continue to operate as usual. 

Soon thereafter, a flight of Japanese jets violated the zone over island they claim as their own, to be followed days later by a flight of Chinese jets on “routine patrol.” 

As tensions have continued to mount, the United States has sent one of it’s powerful carrier strike groups, organized around the super carrier USS George Washington, to the region. The carrier will conduct war games with Japan designed to simulate what might happen in case of a real attack.

READ MORE: U.S. Flies B-52 Planes Over China's Air Defense Zone

This then, is the strained environment Joe Biden, a man renowned for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, finds himself in. 

Mr. Biden managed to get off to a rather rough start, at least as far as the Chinese are concerned, on Tuesday in Tokyo when he said the US was “deeply concerned by the attempt to unilaterally change the status quo in the East China Sea.”

Chinese state media responded by saying, “If the US is truly committed to lowering tensions in the region, it must first stop acquiescing to Tokyo’s dangerous brinkmanship.”

While in China, Biden will meet with China’s Vice President, President, and Premier, where he says he will stress American concerns about the new Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) announced in late November. 

Don’t expect much to change, however. China has drawn a line on a map, asking countries who want to fly planes over that line to follow Chinese rules and file flight plans with Chinese authorities. 

South Korea, Japan and the United States have already made a point of ignoring China’s new rules, and though Chinese defense ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said earlier this week that China’s military is “fully capable of exercising effective control” over the whole zone, it remains to be seen whether China has the ambition and the wherewithal to do so. 

Read more from the BBC.

Reach Executive Producer Christopher Coppock by email.