China's policy towards the South China Sea: geopolitics and the international maritime regime
Date
2014
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
This dissertation examines the evolution of Chinese policy towards the South China Sea dispute over the past six decades. The South China Sea dispute is one of the most dangerous and intractable territorial rows in Asia, involving China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei. This dispute also entangles countries outside the region, such as the United States, Japan, India, and Australia, whose maritime interests are heavily invested in the Sea Lanes of Communication in the South China Sea. As the biggest claimant to the South China Sea, China's handling of the South China Sea dispute has significant bearing on the regional security of Asia. The evolving path of China's policy towards the South China Sea has been shaped by two sets of factors. The first is the legal, normative, and institutional dynamics of the maritime regime at both international and regional levels. The second concerns shifts in the geostrategic environment in the South China Sea region. These factors have operated in two general ways. First, developments in the international maritime regime have exerted an incremental and sustained influence in shaping China's conceptualization of the South China Sea dispute and promoted domestic institutionalization of modern maritime governance. Second, the normative and institutional dynamics of the maritime regime interact with concurrent geopolitical flux, offering a blend of incentives and pressure that shapes the calculus of the Chinese leadership. By and large, China's handling of the South China Sea issue is characterized by a pattern of legalization and self-adjustment that fits into the regional institutional engagement architecture and modern international maritime order.