This book assesses the Sino-Japanese strategic competition in the context of the South China Sea (SCS) territorial disputes. The South China Sea territorial disputes are quickly becoming the most significant security problem in East and Southeast Asia. Two major powers, China and Japan, have interests in the region and are pursuing different strategies that can significantly impact the outcome of the disputes. Utilizing Securitization Theory, this study evaluates the Sino-Japanese strategic competition through political narratives that galvanize the military and economic policies that are transforming the region. It highlights how these narratives, so closely bounded to the political legitimacy of current governments and supported by provocative policies, have resulted in a co-constitutive pattern of enmity and securitization, thus making it increasingly difficult to resolve the disputes.

This book assesses the Sino-Japanese strategic competition in the context of the South China Sea (SCS) territorial disputes. The South China Sea territorial disputes are quickly becoming the most significant security problem in East and Southeast Asia. Two major powers, China and Japan, have interests in the region and are pursuing different strategies that can significantly impact the outcome of the disputes. Utilizing Securitization Theory, this study evaluates the Sino-Japanese strategic competition through political narratives that galvanize the military and economic policies that are transforming the region. It highlights how these narratives, so closely bounded to the political legitimacy of current governments and supported by provocative policies, have resulted in a co-constitutive pattern of enmity and securitization, thus making it increasingly difficult to resolve the disputes. Zenel Garcia is Visiting Assistant Professor at St. Lawrence University, USA. His research focuses on Foreign Policy and Security Studies with a concentration in East Asia.

Today's hearing will cover China's maritime disputes in the East and South China Seas. We'll examine the security, political, legal, and economic drivers of these disputes in our three panels today. The first panel will begin by discussing the broad security situation on the high seas. As China's maritime forces have become more capable over the past decade, Beijing has become more confident in its ability to assert its claims in the disputed areas. Beyond China's "hard" security concerns, however, other domestic, political, and legal elements shape China's policy in the East and South China Seas. Our second panel will consider popular nationalism as one of these elements. It has become a key driver of Chinese foreign policy as personality politics in Beijing has given way to a collective leadership seeking Party legitimacy. We'll conclude with a panel on how resources and economic drivers shape China's maritime disputes. Security of China's near seas is critical to the unimpeded flow of trade and imported energy resources. Though the natural resources in the East and South China Sea undoubtedly shape the security landscape, there appears to be a debate on the centrality of oil and gas resources to the dispute.

Tells the story of the growing Chinese Navy - The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) - and its expanding capabilities, evolving roles and military implications for the USA. Divided into four thematic sections, this special collection of essays surveys and analyzes the most important aspects of China's navel modernization.

This volume examines the South China Sea’s regional security dynamics, highlighting the challenges and opportunities for both littoral and non-littoral states. The South China Sea is a vital pathway for the great container ships and tankers, as well as for the naval vessels of today. Indeed, the security of the contemporary global economy is reliant more than ever upon the dependability of freedom of navigation through the waters of the South China Sea. This volume concentrates on the security of the South China Sea sub-region. It is designed to help illuminate the contemporary security dynamics within this important sub-region by highlighting its development, the contemporary challenges and opportunities confronting both the littoral states and the non-littoral powers that are active in the sub-region, and the policy responses of those states as they seek to defend and promote their national interests. This book is composed of 16 chapters and is organized into five thematic sections. Part I of the book is designed to set the historical context. Part II examines some of the contemporary challenges and opportunities that present themselves in the sub-region, while Part III focuses on Chinese policy in the South China Sea sub-region. Parts IV and Part V analyse and evaluate the contemporary policies of the various littoral and non-littoral powers that are active in the South China Sea sub-region. The collective analyses and assessments of the contemporary perceptions and policies of the various littoral and non-littoral powers active in the South China Sea in response to the traditional and non-traditional challenges within the sub-region that are examined in the chapters contained in Parts III, IV, and V, framed against the material presented in Parts I and II, provides the basis for observations concerning areas of conflicting and coinciding interests in the concluding chapter of the book. This book will be of interest to students of the South China Sea, maritime security, Asian politics, and international relations.

The South China Sea (SCS) has emerged as a theatre of political, economic, and security concerns not only for the countries in the region but also for the world at large. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the SCS issue is not about contestation over territory or control over resources alone. With military facilities including airstrips and artificial islands or structures being built in the area, concerns about freedom of navigation and the right to innocent passage have also become an overwhelming security issue and made the SCS region a flashpoint which, according to many assessments, can lead to confrontations including those involving conventional military means. Disruption of maritime passage could also hamper trade and commerce with very negative impacts on the economic development of the region and other countries. It is now being held that China could also be using the SCS disputes as part of a consorted effort to deflect geo-political pressures on account of the COVID-19 pandemic-related cover-ups and misinformation.This book explores the historical and strategic context of the South China Sea disputes and makes an assessment of the implications of the same for freedom of navigation and other regimes at sea.

This book examines to what extent geopolitics explains the current wave of force modernisation in the Indo-Pacific region. Examining the leading Indo-Pacific nations in terms of defence spending: the United States, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Taiwan, Singapore, Pakistan, Indonesia and Thailand, geopolitical principles are used to create hypotheses that can be tested against the military modernisation programmes of the major actors in the Indo-Pacific region. The book represents a bridge between reference works and the literature on international politics in the Indo-Pacific. The empirical chapters provide qualitative narratives that explore the force postures, military modernisation and procurement patterns of the cases, and assess why these nations’ military modernisation has followed particular courses and evaluate this evidence against the expectations of geopolitics and its rivals. This book will be a valuable addition to scholars, practitioners and, indeed, anyone interested in the future stability of one of the world’s most important and dynamic regions.

This definitive volume assembles more than twenty leading Indo-Pacific maritime scholars and emerging experts to deliver fresh perspectives on maritime cooperation and security. Topics include naval activities, law of the sea, environmental protection, international cooperation, and sub-regional maritime agendas.

Today, the new Indonesian capital city, Nusantara, planning is being anticipated as “representing national identity,” “a model city,” or “a gift to the world,” and many other extraordinary labels. This book examines the reality of an ongoing developmental transformation of the Nusantara beyond those labels. It approaches its assemblage of humans, their works (plans, documents, policies, and others), non-human objects (biodiversity, landscape, geography, physical infrastructure, buildings, and public spaces), processes, social relationships, social infrastructures, and others. It is organized into three themes—mimicry, friction, and resonance. The mimicry illustrates the similarities (and differences) between Nusantara and other capital cities in urban narratives, imageries, and forms. The friction studies how Nusantara moves actors who do not always agree, processes that do not always align or collaboration between diverse contradicting groups that intersect. The resonance observes how Nusantara resonates with, yet communicates its voice toward, the world. The three concepts (originated from geography, anthropology, and sociology) frame the analytics of the various contributions of local and foreign scientists from multiple disciplines. Overall, the book recommends “Otorita Ibu Kota Nusantara” (Nusantara capital city authority) on the current experimentation and implementation of the urban vision and provides a reference for social scientists to study Nusantara. And more broadly, the book offers the current socio-spatial practices of capital city-making in Asia that are valuable for the region.

Now fully revised and updated, The United States and China offers a comprehensive synthesis of US-Chinese relations from initial contact to the present. Balancing the modern (1784–1949) and contemporary (1949–present) periods, Dong Wang retraces centuries of interaction between two of the world’s great powers from the perspective of both sides. She examines state-to-state diplomacy, as well as economic, social, military, religious, and cultural interplay within varying national and international contexts. As China itself continues to grow in global importance, so too does the US-Chinese relationship, and this book provides an essential grounding for understanding its past, present, and possible futures.