China’s Security Interests and Strategies in the South China Sea

Abstract

This chapter reviews China's broad security interests in the South China Sea (SCS). It covers concerns over territorial sovereignty and maritime jurisdiction and growing appeal for overall strategic stability, homeland security, and sea routes safety. It also contends that China seeks to create and maintain a stable regional security order that is conducive to managing disputes and build cooperation to better deal with non-traditional maritime security threats. The chapter analyses China's official statements, which reveals that China's perceptions of its security interests in the SCS are multi-faceted. It explains how issues on territorial sovereignty and maritime rights always possess a domestic sensitivity, the mishandling of which might lead to political and social instability, which triggers the security concerns of the country.