With the year coming to a close, 2015 has seen the complex relationship between the U.S. and China apparently reach "frenemy" status. And this past week was prime example as the two countries simultaneously engaged in both sabre rattling and good-will gestures.

After two U.S. bombers strayed over the controversial Spratly Islands last week, the U.S. drew a strong rebuke from China, which called it "serious military provocation."  Although the U.S. insisted that the flyover occurred by accident, the Chinese government wasn't buying it. State news media responded by saying "it is clear to all that the incident was as intended as every other maneuver by Washington aimed at sustaining its global hegemony."

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Meanwhile, at the same time as this "provocation" was going on, the Chinese Navy was wrapping up a five-day good will visit to the U.S Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

During the visit, sailors from both navies visited each others' warships, and competed in friendly games of football and basketball games and even visited the Arizona memorial. The commanding officer of the Chinese naval taskforce met with the commander of the U.S. Navy Region Hawaii. Chinese officers even visited the USS Arizona Memorial to pay their respects to the U.S. sailors and marines killed during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

The disparity between the two concurring events is something that has been a reoccurring theme between the U.S. and China since the Spring, when China stepped up its land reclamation efforts to create islands in the South China Sea.

In May, U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter called for an "immediate and lasting halt" to the island building, and the protest was echoed by other nations in the region, such as the Philippines and Malaysia.

The U.S. said china had reclaimed more than 2,000 acres in just 18 months. It called the island building illegal, and said that China was not entitled to sovereignty over the customary 12 miles of territory waters that extend beyond a nation's coast.  

But then the following month the U.S. and China signed a rare agreement to strengthen military ties and develop a more productive military relationship. They  announced that the two rivals would conduct joint military drills and exercises over the coming year.

The friend/enemy relationship between the two countries continued this Fall, when in October China summoned U.S. Ambassador Max Baucus after the U.S. conducted naval maneuvers in the South China Sea near two of its new artificial islands. The Chinese vice-foreign minister called the maneuvers "extremely irresponsible."

That same month, the U.S. claimed that one of its aircraft carriers had been closely tracked by a Chinese submarine off the coast of Japan. A Chinese Kilo-class fast-attack submarine reportedly shadowed the USS Ronald Reagan for at least half a day on October 24. An official didn't say how close the two vessels came to each other, but called it "more than a brief encounter."

The following month the U.S. and China were able to set aside their differences to conduct a joint drill in the Atlantic Ocean southeast of Jacksonville, Fla. It was the first-ever joint drill between the two navies.

Also in November, Chinese naval hospital ship Peace Ark visited San Diego for a five-day friendly port visit to U.S. The ship was greeted by the representatives of the U.S. Navy, personnel of the Chinese embassy and consulate in the U.S. and representatives of the local Chinese community.

And just earlier this month tensions stirred again between the two countries after the U.S. agreed to sell $1.8 billion worth of military equipment to Taiwan over China's strong objections. China considers Taiwan an inalienable part of the country, and said that the arms sale broke international law, and severely harms China's sovereignty and security.

China also strongly objected when the U.S. Navy deployed P-8 Poseidon aircraft to Singapore earlier in December. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the military deployment went against the common and long-term interests of countries in the region.

With the new year just around the corner, it's likely the two countries will continue the ongoing back and forth between rhetoric-filled global posturing and joint drills/goodwill gestures well into 2016.

TagsU.S. Become the Best of Frenemies in 2015, Barack Obama, frenemies