The risk of the United States and China stumbling into conflict in the South China Sea is rising as their military exercises intensify and various nations adopt a more muscular presence in this key regional hotspot, experts say. lli Pekka Suorsa, a Research Fellow at the RSIS in Singapore, shared concern over the growing potential for an unintended conflict breaking out. “With both China and the United States deploying significant numbers of ships and military aircraft in close proximity with one another, the risk of collision is an ever-present danger,” Suorsa said. “And with tensions running as high as they are today, an accident or miscalculation is never far away.”