By sending an oil rig off of Vietnam’s coast just as Vietnam’s leader heads off to Washington for a historic meeting, Beijing may be pushing its adversaries together.

China is building a military and administrative outpost on Woody Island in the South China Sea, and according to Reuters will soon base a 5,000 ton coast guard vessel there to patrol disputed ocean territory. Woody Island, called Yongxing in China, is the seat of the Chinese prefecture of Sansha. Several nearby island groups come under Sansha’s administration, including the Spratly Islands, the Paracel Islands, and the Macclesfield Bank, all of which are also claimed by Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, or some combination of all the above.

China is secretly at work on its second (and first homemade) aircraft carrier in the coastal city of Dalian, according to reports. Construction is expected to be completed in six years, and officials say China will eventually have at least four such carriers. Alongside the new aircraft carrier in Dalian are two advanced missile destroyers, also under construction. The new ships will help bolster the power and reach of the Chinese navy as it seeks to take control of nearby seas and project power farther abroad.