This past Wednesday, an American surveillance plane was intercepted by two Chinese fighter jets while conducting a routine mission in international airspace over the East China Sea. The intercept was classified as “unprofessional” by Air Force spokeswoman Lt. Col. Lori Hodge due to the speeds and proximity of the Chinese planes with the American.

While no one was injured and none of the planes in question were damaged during the incident, its occurrence increases tensions in an already tense region of the world. Despite the East China Sea and its counterpart, the South China Sea, being considered largely international waters, the Chinese have laid claim to an area encompassing almost all of both bodies of water. The United States and its allies do not recognize these claims.

Hodge refused to give many more details about the incident, instead stating that further discourse with China would be dealt with through “appropriate diplomatic and military channels”.

This intercept is just one in a series of incidents that has precipitated diplomatic and political headaches with the Chinese in the region. In February, a similar incident involving a US Navy patrol plane and a Chinese military plane had what was only stated as an “unsafe encounter”.

The history of US-Chinese conflict in the South and East China Seas can be traced back as far as 2001, where a Chinese fighter jet collided with a US surveillance plane in the South China Sea, resulting in the death of the Chinese pilot and the detention of the surveillance plane’s 24 crew members.

So in the end, what’s the hang up? Why the contention over a body of water? The most immediate benefit to controlling the South China Sea is for shipping purposes. As the primary point of passage between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, almost a third of all maritime traffic worldwide passes through the South China Sea. This includes about 60% of Taiwan and Japan’s energy supplies, as well as 80% of China’s crude oil imports.

In addition, many of the island chains in the area are valued for their potential mineral wealth, particularly the Parcel and Spartly island groups. Though there’s been little extensive exploration of either of these island chains, the mineral abundance of nearby islands has precipitated the Chinese advance in the region.

Given the current political discourse in the United States, I find it particularly surprising that President Trump hasn’t taken a more active role in dissuading these incidents and pushing back against the Chinese. Having campaigned on a platform that promised to deal harshly and swiftly with Chinese currency manipulation and the poaching of American jobs, this contention with the Chinese over territorial rights would prove an ample place to start in reasserting American dominance.

With the turmoil that has resulted from Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey and the possibility that it was done in order to prevent further investigation into his campaign’s ties to Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin, the smart play would be to find a unifying issue to put the chaos behind him. Most of the international community has condemned the Chinese actions in the South China Sea and “leveling the playing field” with China was one of Trump’s most popular claims during the election. Focusing on this issue, perhaps using the incident in the East China Sea as a catalyst, would be an excellent launching point for the embattled President.