As Chinese navy ships head to Hawaii this month for the Rim of the Pacific (Rimpac) military exercise, security experts suggest Washington should find new ways to keep China's rise to power in check.

Writing in the Washington Post, Michele Flournoy and Ely Ratner of the Centre for a New American Security voiced concerns over China's increasing assertiveness, which they say has a destabilizing effect and could lead to conflict if allowed to continue unrestrained.

Like Us on Facebook

"The apt metaphor here is the frog in a pot of water that doesn't realise the temperature is gradually rising until it is too late to jump out," warned Flournoy, a former undersecretary of defense for policy, and Ratner, a senior fellow at the center.

The U.S. invited China to participate for the first time in the world's largest naval exercise, along with more than 20 other countries, in what is seen as Washington's effort to encourage Beijing to contribute to regional peace and security.

Four navy ships from China, including a destroyer, will be joining the drill.

According to the Washington Post article, despite the 35-year-old U.S. policy of engagement with China, the Asian powerhouse has been behaving in a way that could harm rather than help regional stability.

Flournoy and Ratner cited China's handling of its territorial disputes with its neighbors, which they said were against former strongman Deng Xiaoping's long-standing principle of "shelving disputes."

The experts called on the Obama Administration to reexamine its overall approach to China.

They said steps should be taken to avoid the dangers of "incremental Chinese revisionism" while continuing to build long-term U.S.-China partnership.

Measures such as the creation of a regional system to increase awareness of maritime domain should get support from Washington to enforce international order in Asia based on rules, Flournoy and Ratner suggested.

They also proposed that the U.S. help countries in the region strengthen their capacity to guard their shores.

TagsU.S.-China, territorial disputes, international diplomacy, Asia Pacific