The Choice of Fundamental National Interests and the Position of South China Sea Issues, by Su Hao and Ruan Yuan-zhe

The foundation of national strategy is the national interest, that could be the strategic starting point and its ultimate end. The judgment of national interest is the basis of national strategic decision-making, which determines national strategic orientation and direction of strategic actions.[1]

21/01/2013

China Debates South China Sea Policy: Implications for Future Developments of the Dispute, by Li Mingjiang

The past few years have been an eventful period for the South China Sea dispute, which has always been a crucial issue for peace and stability in East Asia. In 2009, the submissions of extended continental shelf claims to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf by various parties in the dispute created the first round of diplomatic tussles. China’s action of submitting...

21/01/2013

The Growth of Chinese Military power and its implications for military modernization in Southeast Asia, by Richard A. Bitzinger

As China emerges as a leading, modern military power in the Asia-Pacific region, the countries of Southeast Asia are increasingly hedging against possible Chinese military adventurism by rearming themselves. At the same time, China is hardly the only reason for the ASEAN states’ current military modernization efforts. Other external and internal factors – such as new regional security requirements,...

21/01/2013

Flashpoint South China Seas: Policy options and Implications for India, by Probal Ghosh

The South China sea region has emerged as one of the areas of intense global focus with claims and counter claims of contending countries flooding the region in an atmosphere of mistrust and animosity. The debate and  actions by maritime para military forces, fishing fleets , agencies behaving like maritime militia  have underscored the shrill  cry for establishing/ reasserting sovereignty over disparate...

21/01/2013

Understanding Recent Developments in US-China-ASEAN Relations: A US Perspective, by Bonnie S. Glaser

Relations among the United States, ASEAN and China have undergone significant changes in the past decade.  Some of the salient factors behind these changes are: 1) increasing assertiveness by China in pressing its claims in the South China Sea; 2) resurgence of ASEAN’s concerns about Chinese intentions and ambitions that has prompted support for increased US involvement and presence in the region;...

21/01/2013

Deciding Sovereignty Disputes: Ownership Claims Over “Land Features” in South China Sea, by Capt Azhari Abdul Aziz RMN

Ownership of territory is significant because sovereignty over land defines what constitutes a state.[1] Additionally, as Machiavelli suggested, territorial acquisition is one of the goals of most states.[2] The territorial disputes in South China Sea have long plagued the relationship of nations in a semi enclosed sea and the disputes in ownership over some 240 islands, atolls, low tide elevations...

21/01/2013

The South China Sea in legal perspective, by Hasjim Djalal

A.   Legal Perspective 1.    Customary International Law: a.    What are these: ·         Freedoms of the sea. ·         Cooperation between states. ·         Peaceful settlement of disputes.

21/01/2013

The South China Sea: Ten myths and ten realities, by Rodolfo C Severino

All too often, the public discourse on the conflicting claims to territorial sovereignty and maritime jurisdiction in the South China Sea renders an already complex subject even more complicated. The mass media and some academic commentators, who should know better, help this trend along by perpetuating, in the face of the facts and realities, certain myths related to the disputes. Some of these myths...

21/01/2013

Cooperation in the South China Sea: from Dispute Management to Ocean Governance, by Nguyen Dang Thang

The South China Sea (SCS) has long been of interest to scholars of international law and international relations.[1] But attention has been paid almost exclusively to the simmering territorial disputes in the SCS. While this is justified by the concern that such disputes pose a threat to regional peace and stability, that the management of the territorial disputes in the SCS dominates existing literature...

21/01/2013

Weekly News 21/1-27/1

-(Bangkokpost 25/1) Sihasak seeks South China Sea parley: Thailand will seek ways to bring about talks between China and the Philippines over their South China Sea territorial dispute. -(Philstar 25/1) Q&A: Why Phl challenged China’s sea claim

22/01/2013