The South China Sea and U.S.-China Rivalry

Bibliographic Data

ID7968570
AuthorsAndrew Scobell (corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume133
Issue2
Pages199-224
Publication date2018-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolitical Science Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0032-3195 • E-ISSN: 1538-165X
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1002/polq.12772
OpenAlexW2809308763
LanguageEN
Citations received11

IS THE SOUTH CHINA SEA a key flash point for U.S.-China rivalry or a tempest in a teacup? This article examines the body of water from a geopolitical perspective and concludes that it is a significant flash point in U.S.-China rivalry. By “rivalry,” I mean an antagonistic relationship between two states embroiled in “long-term hostility” and competition manifested in “multiple disputes, continuing [policy] disagreements and the threat of the use of force.”1 Although the United States and China are not adversaries and there are significant and numerous dimensions and manifestations of cooperation between Washington and Beijing, according to this definition, a U.S.-China rivalry exists. By “flash point,” I mean a “longstanding political dispute” that is “proximate to . . . adversaries” and “threaten[s] to involve more powerful actors [thereby] raising the possibility of . . . a broader war.”2 While at least one scholar has argued that “the South China Sea is not a flash point,”3 this article contends that in the second decade of the twenty-first century, this body of water does indeed meet the criteria. Although it may be a different kind of flash point from the Korean Peninsula, Taiwan Strait, or Vale of Kashmir, the South China Sea is a key hot spot nonetheless

Beijing · China · Competition (biology) · Development economics · Economics · Economy · Geopolitics · Period (music) · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Rivalry · Sociology · Turning point · International Maritime Law Issues · Law

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