China’s provocative stealing of a U.S. Navy underwater drone has been presented by the mainstream media as evidence that Donald Trump’s acceptance of the Taiwanese president’s congratulatory phone call needlessly stirred regional tensions. The Chinese communist-controlled Global Times is certainly making that argument, stating in a Monday editorial, “Trump is not behaving as a president who will become master of the White House in a month. He bears no sense of how to lead a superpower.”

While the mainstream media may continue to assert that the situation with China is becoming significantly more tenuous as Trump enters office than with Barack Obama, the truth is more nuanced. America’s relationship with China since the end of WWII can be best described as tense. China has a long history of provocative incidents and is currently attempting to take control of the South China Sea via its man-made islands.

China is simply “feeling” Trump out; testing his resolve. Will he be a pushover as Obama was, or will he dig in and attempt to halt Chinese expansion? So far, it appears that China doesn’t scare Trump, and that he is serious about calling out bad deals.