For several years, reports about conflicts and provocations in the South China Sea are increasing in quantity. Within this area, the security-political and economic interests of seven neighboring states, among them the People’s Republic of China, the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, as well as geostrategic interests of the USA and Japan, collide and overlap. The US-American vision of a unipolar, hegemonic stability is being confronted with the Chinese vision of a multipolar, negotiated order.
Following the media coverage, the culprit of these conflicts and arguments can easily be found: the People’s Republic of China. In fact, the Chinese activities within this region have increased noticeably during the last years: patrols, surveillance, military activities and artificially created landfills in order to secure a long-scale military presence. Does the People’s Republic of China endanger the bursting of a “powder keg”? When trying to answer this question, caution should be exercised as the actions of China do not differ substantially from the actions of other states that violated collective declarations on the conduct within the South China Sea as well.
The latest HSFK-Standpunkt 2/2015 “Frieden und Stabilität mit oder gegen China. Der Konflikt im Südchinesischen Meer stellt alle Beteiligten vor Grundsatzentscheidungen”, written by Peter Kreuzer illustrates the development of the last decades, compares the activities of involved actors, questions the legitimacy of their claims and scrutinizes the American policy in the South China Sea. Moreover he advocates restoring the ASEAN’s leading role (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) in securing regional peace.
The HSFK-Standpunkt is available as a free PDF download (German only).