CHINA US Focus - Perspectives shaping the world's most important bilateral relationship

The majority of discussions at the April 2012 U.S. Army War College’s 23rd annual Strategy Conference focused on the rise of China and the People’s Liberation Army. Despite U.S. concerns over a lack of transparency in China’s military, the 23rd annual Strategy Conference agreed the ties linking China and the U.S. make future conflicts unlikely.

China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) adopted a Declaration on the Conduct of Parties (DOC) in the South China Sea (SCS) in November 2002.

The South China Sea dispute is, to a large extent, over the Spratly Islands and one of the main elements involves natural resources in areas surrounding the islands.

One of the main sources of tension in Asia nowadays are the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, where the Philippines, Vietnam, China, and others have conflicting claims. In Chinese media reports, the heightened “unfriendliness” in the region has allegedly arisen from “bad rumors and speculations” on the part of Filipino commentators. But the [...]

The recent escalation of tensions in the South China Sea once again brought the decades-long territorial dispute to the brink of a violent confrontation that reminds us that our next territorial battles may not be over land, but rather water. As the world’s leading naval power and trading partner, America has an important stake in [...]

The types of disputes and claims occurring between Asian countries in the South China Sea have been going on for centuries. Recent incidents can be quietly resolved by both sides directly working with each other. United States involvement in this process will not help to resolve these disputes.