"each side is strong enough only to deny the other's ability to exert control" [deny the other's ability to exert control]
This phrase directly names the structural mechanism — mutual denial of control rather than pursuit of dominance — that the signal claims is becoming the new equilibrium in the western Pacific.
Reasoning from this article
The article frames the western Pacific military situation not as a transition from U.S. dominance to Chinese dominance, but as a third condition where both powers can contest but neither can control. This generalizes beyond Taiwan: wherever a rising power can impose unacceptable costs on an incumbent's power projection without itself achieving regional supremacy, the same mutual-denial equilibrium emerges. The Cold War analogy (MAD) is explicitly rejected in favor of this newer structural form, suggesting analysts should update their frameworks for other contested theaters such as the South China Sea or Baltic.