Conclusion: Looking over the Horizon – Prospects for Settlement of the South China Sea Dispute?

Abstract

This chapter summarizes the political and security challenges that arise from highly divergent national views on the South China Sea (SCS). It recounts how the rise in Chinese economic power allowed the People's Republic of China (PRC) to devote funding to building a blue-water navy and expand islands to build on extensive naval, coast guard, and air force installations. It looks at the economic inter-dependence between the economies in the SCS region, such as between China and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states, China and the United States, China and trading partners Japan, Australia, and even Taiwan. The chapter mentions two principal antagonists in the geopolitical differences over the SCS: China, the principal claimant, and the United States, the most powerful external stakeholder. It points out one positive aspect of the rising tensions in the SCS, which is the research and debates they have stimulated among analysts and scholars in the countries concerned.