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Competing Visions of International Order in the South China Sea
Competing Visions of International Order in the South China Sea
Table of Contents
  1. Principal Findings
  2. Executive Summary
  3. Introduction
  4. Imbroglio in Brief
    1. Variety of Disputes
    2. Dispute Resolution and Cooperative Regimes
  5. Arbitration Reverberations
    1. China’s Response
    2. South East Asian Responses
    3. The Code of Conduct
  6. Whose Rules-Based Order?
    1. A Community of Common Destiny
    2. A Free and Open Indo-Pacific
    3. Sino-U.S. Security Dilemma
  7. Great Powers, Great Responsibility
    1. Beijing’s Legitimacy Deficit
    2. International Law or Rules-based Order?
    3. Pushing Back without Pushing Too Far
    4. Fostering Regional Cooperation
  8. Conclusion
  9. Appendix A: Map of the South China Sea
  10. Appendix B: Recommendations
U.S. Navy USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) Carrier Strike Group, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's JS Kaga (DDH-184) helicopter carrier conduct bilateral operations in South China Sea November 2021. EyePress News / EyePress via AFP
Report 315 / Asia

Competing Visions of International Order in the South China Sea

The disputes in the South China Sea are fundamentally about claims of sovereignty, the broadest of which are staked by Beijing. The Chinese-U.S. rivalry, meanwhile, loads the dissension with geopolitical significance. Both major powers stand to gain by accepting the constraints of international law.