Over the past decade the hotly disputed South China Sea has become increasingly used as example of the rising strategic competition between the People’s Republic of China and the United States.

Overlapping territory claims and maritime jurisdiction, strategic control over maritime domain, and differences in legal interpretations of freedom of navigation combine in a broader contest that affects multiple countries in Southeast Asia as they defend their maritime entitlements. Even regional non-claimant states such as Australia, Japan, India and South Korea claim stakes in the South China Sea, reflecting concerns about the shifting regional order and China’s intentions in the maritime domain.

How do these different countries approach the South China Sea disputes? How are concepts around sovereignty, history and the law of the sea used and abused in foreign policy discussions and discourses? And what capacity is there for the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) – the so-called Constitution for the Oceans – to resolve these complex problems?

Panel

Chair

Recorded on 15 June, 2020.