Report: A nervous region eyes robust Chinese response to missing Malaysian plane

HONG KONG: From high-resolution satellites to advanced warships, China's military build-up is on full display in the hunt for a missing Malaysian jetliner - putting Asia on notice as to what Beijing might do in the future to further assert its regional presence.

Beijing regards those waters as its southernmost territory, the bottom of a looping so-called nine-dash line on maps that comprise 90% of the South China Sea. The Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan are also in dispute with Beijing over parts of the ocean.