China's anti-access "island defense" concerns the Pentagon.

via Free Beacon

“It is likely that the PLA Navy deployed the YJ-62 to Woody Island at about the same time that HQ-9 anti-aircraft missile were seen on the island, perhaps some time in 2015,” Fisher said.
The deployment of the anti-ship missiles, with a range of 248.5 miles, “now completes a template for the three new bases in the Spratly Island group,” Fisher said.
“They too will soon be equipped with combat aircraft, anti-aircraft missiles, and long range anti-ship missiles,” he said. “These islands will also eventually be linked by underwater, surface and airborne surveillance sensors creating a ‘fence’ to keep out U.S. and allied military forces.”
Fisher said that at the current rate of militarization in the sea, China could deploy the equivalent of a new navy fleet by 2020.

Read the entire article but it illustrates why current Marine Corps planning leaves me cold.  Leadership is placing all its eggs in the Company Landing Team, Air Centric, Alternate Transport, Partnership, Sensor Fusion basket....while the Chinese are taking solid steps to deny us access to the region.

If you talk about surface launched assaults being vulnerable then how will a "MV-22 Enabled" Landing Force fare when they're having to dodge HQ-9's and China's version of integrated air defenses that can see them taking off from the decks of our LHAs?

The idea of conducting long range strikes is "iffy" too.  Besides having to dodge Chinese combat air patrols to get within launch distance, the Chinese have taken note of our bombs and missiles.  The Chinese C-RAM can handle SDBs, HARMS are obsolete and new missiles won't be coming online till 2020 (or later) and they promise no significant increase in performance.

Now we know why Dunford will make the next national security briefing estimate to Congress classified. The Pentagon knows the nasty truth.  The Chinese HAVE or will soon gain regional superiority.  We're simply spread too far, guessed wrong on the future fight and bought weapon systems that are outdated before they even enter service.  The Chinese are winning the next war before the shooting's started.