China in South China Sea: Evolving geopolitical interests and opportunism

ABSTRACT China has been consistently staking claim to the entire South China Sea (SCS) citing historical linkages. The consistent nature of these claims point towards the long-term nature of China’s interests, from nationalism and reclaiming lost territories to commercial and geostrategic interests. The onset of COVID-19 in Wuhan in November 2019 and its transformation into a global pandemic witnessed a shift in China’s foreign policy. The article analyses China’s evolving geopolitical interests and recent geopolitical opportunism during COVID-19, by way of unilateral state-level administrative actions, completion of military infrastructure development, conduct of military exercises, aggressive military actions, and wolf warrior diplomacy, to gain operational advantage by changing the status quo in its favour in the SCS in order to subordinate other claimants and dominate the region.