I thought the same thing, regarding the weird “totally not a border conflict” they’re having with India up in the Himalayas.
But this is different. This isn’t a “disputed border” - this is China trying to make their idiotic “nine-dash line” the de facto rule of the sea, which it is very much not. Zero countries outside of the PRC itself accept their claims as legitimate and enforceable in the modern context. China is, of course, trying to enforce it anyways, but using their coastguard and without using firearms so it’s “not a conflict”.