A Critical Assessment of China’s Role in the South China Sea Dispute

Abstract

It might be difficult to find the little rocky outcroppings from the map,but these seemingly insignificant atolls play an important role in the stability of the Pacific-Asia.The dispute over the Spratly(Nansha) Islands,locating in the South China Sea,is one of the most controversial issues in Southeast Asia.Five countries(China,Vietnam,the Philippines,Malaysia and Brunei) and Taiwan have overlapping claims on the South China Sea,a place where an important sea lane lies and which is abundant in energy and fishery resources.The strategic importance of the South China Sea and the complicated claimants on it attract great attention in this region or even all over the world.China,because of its size and expanding economic development,is the most influential country among all the claimant states.The strategies and actions taken by it impose great influence in the South China Sea dispute.Will China trigger a military conflict over the South China Sea or will it cooperate with the Southeast Asian countries to settle the dispute peacefully? This is the question which this paper attempts to answer.And it also gives a critical assessment of China's role in the South China Sea dispute.