Policy 101 : South China Sea the Centre Gravity in global geopolitics

The South China Sea encompasses roughly 3.625 million sq. km (1.4 million sq. mi). Its northwest shore abuts the southeast Chinese coast and its western margins front Vietnam and the Malay Peninsula. The power struggles in the South China Sea region has become an important issue over the last few years which was examined by the general public. Several countries in ASEAN such as Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and the influence of American and Chinas forces are fighting over each other in strategic areas for sea trade routes and abundant potential resources.

The dramatic rise of China has transformed the South China Sea into a frontier of control as China seeks to morph this maritime theatre into a landward extension of the Chinese coast. They can deploy land-based tactics into an arena previously dominated by maritime power and tactics to secure the South China Sea as a de facto territorial water that serves multiple Chinese strategic interests.

South East Asia has always been a strategic region in China’s foreign and domestic policy goals and strategies. The region is regarded as indispensable for its stable economic growth, and consequently, Beijing has forged close economic, institutional, and aid tie-ups with SEA countries. For China itself, this geographic setting defines as a series of Great Walls that serve to restrain or inhibit this Asian power’s ability to access and control portions of the Pacific. For the United States, the first two island chains also afford the opportunity to project hard power into the coastal zones of mainland Asia, as was the case in Korea 1950-1953 and then in Vietnam from 1965-1973.

There are also economic implications emanating from the territorial controversy. Since China becoming the major economic partner for all sea countries, any military policies that could affect Chinese interests must be thoroughly weighed in this centralized light. Economic statecraft could might certainly be used to pursue political goals, taking advantage of the asymmetric distribution of capabilities and dependency conditions that define bilateral relations.

There is a clear consensus among academics that Chinese economic statecraft became more active under Xi Jinping’s leadership and started to unveil a variety of strategies intended to achieve political goals through economic means. A clear example of this trend is that the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). BRI define as a transcontinental long-term policy and investment program which aims at infrastructure development and acceleration of the economic integration of several countries.

China’s ability to push the South China Sea into an extension of China’s coastline inland allows land-based strategies and tactics to be deployed and become the operational norm for deploying Hegemony. China will then be positioned to unilaterally dominate the South China Sea and use its demarcated Economic Exclusion Zones and Air Défense Identification Zones as a means for excluding foreign air and naval assets.

China has benefited from a lack of cohesion among Southeast Asian countries, allowing its strategy of seeking only bilateral negotiations with each claimant to pay off. China claims to take advantage of seizing places from numerous islands and shoals while prosecutors secures strategic positions and then basing military assets from personnel. There are 4 conception that made China become so compelling.

1. China wants to increase defense along the south east China sea area
2. China wants to strengthen the power projection further together with the background of coast-based assets
3. China wants to prevent Taiwan’s independence
4. China wants to secure the South China Sea as its de facto territorial waters since 1947

The ability to build a coalition was based on the former British Colonies (India and Australia) together with the US-Japan alliance will prove a more sustained and sustainable force operating to limit China and impose higher costs on China if it seeks to expand hegemony beyond its territory. US expand a cheaper and long-range weaponry, some of which can be remotely operated and could in the long-term result in American political hegemony being deployed in the South China Sea on far more favorable conditions for the United States than China.

Sources used during this writing

1. Thayer, C. (2016). Australian Intelligence: China Poised to Take Decisive Action in the South China Sea. The Diplomat. Retrieved April 22, 2016,
2. Ikenberry, J. G. (2008). The Rise of China and the Future of the West. Foreign Affairs, 87(1), 23-37.
3. Kaplan, R. (2014). Asia’s Cauldron: The South China Sea and the End of a Stable Pacific (New York: Random House) 32-50.
4. https://foreignpolicy.com/2011/10/11/americas-pacific-century/?wp_login_redirect=0
5. https://www.aljazeera.com/tag/south-china-sea/
6. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53397673