Document Type
Thesis
Degree
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Asian Studies
Advisor's Name
Thomas Breslin
Advisor's Title
Committee Chair
Advisor's Name
Steven Heine
Advisor's Name
Paul Kowert
Keywords
China, Philippines, South China Sea, Scarborough shoal, neorealist, ASEAN, international law, bilateral, nationalism, dispute
Date of Defense
6-1-2012
Abstract
The South China Sea is a sea with strategically important shipping lanes, an abundance of maritime resources, and potentially large amounts of oil and gas deposits. Because of the significance of the sea, China has claimed almost all of it, which has caused the Association of Southeast Asian Nation members (ASEAN) whose countries surround the sea (Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philippines) to take a stance against the encroachment. The most important non-Chinese claimant in the dispute is the Philippines, which shares a mutual defense treaty with the United States. The dispute has been analyzed from a bilateral perspective between China and the Philippines. A theoretical analysis of the dispute has been conducted through a Neorealist paradigm. How the two countries define international law and engage in diplomatic and military policies has also been closely examined. China has not sought foreign intervention whether from a nation or international organization, while the Philippines has preferred as much multilateralism as possible. A recent Scarborough Shoal dispute between the two countries has changed the dynamic of the dispute, and in examining the event and its outcome an inevitable conclusion of military action has been reached.
Recommended Citation
Johnson, Adam Nieves, "A Bilateral Analysis of the South China Sea Dispute: China, the Philippines, and the Scarborough Shoal" (2012). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 661.
http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/661