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.