Had China taken a non-aggressive leadership role in SE Asia, it might have gotten many countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines into its orbit. By nakedly seeking territorial expansion on all fronts, the Chinese are playing a risky game. Instead of scattering their opponents, the Chinese may unite them. For allies, the Chinese have Myanmar, North Korea, and Pakistan, which are more liability than help in most situations.
Should India, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, and Malaysia form a concerted alliance, China will have a serious tactical problem. Granted there are issues with that happening, but China is greasing the skids.
China's Achilles heal is petroleum. It must import most of it, and mainly from the middle east. That means long shipment routes (LOC) that China does not and cannot control. Chinese aircraft carriers are not being built for the South China Sea, they are being built for the Indian Ocean. Keep your eyes on the Andaman, Nicobar, and Coco Islands. The Chinese are going to have to control those.
Of course, fracking could solve China's petroleum problem, as they have enormous shale reserves.
"The prominent realist international relations scholar John Mearsheimer says there is a greater possibility of the U.S. and China going to war in the future than there was of a Soviet-NATO general war during the Cold War."