How China tightened its grip in the South China Sea

China has increasingly become the dominant military power in Southeast Asia over the past 15 years. At least, that is the view of defense experts and political leaders when it comes to the idea of military dominance. 

In the South China Sea, which is rich in fish and possibly oil, these waters are disputed between Beijing and Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, as well as Vietnam. 

Friction is also visible between Beijing and Brunei, as well as Indonesia, over exclusive economic zones.

China claims sovereignty over 90% of the South China Sea, even though in 2016 an international tribunal found its claims inaccurate and many of its actions unlawful. 

Beijing has increasingly used land reclamation, aggressive moves by its ships – like ramming vessels of other states – to press home its demands.

Southeast Asian naval and coast guard ships, as well as fishing boats, are being forced to leave disputed areas. Economic coercion is also being used to gain de facto control of much of the vital waterway. 

Even the United States can no longer guarantee freedom of navigation.

[China’s] share of arms sales to regional states has grown significantly.

Similarly, China’s aircraft carriers are pushing into the open ocean in the Pacific, showing Beijing is becoming a blue water power, as well as a dominant military force in Southeast Asia in another, less well-known way.

Its share of arms sales to regional states has grown significantly in the past decade, while those of the United States and Russia have declined. 

These arms sales, along with China’s growing military exercises with Southeast Asian states, can foster closer ties between Beijing and its neighbors. 

It will certainly make more Southeast Asian nations reliant on Chinese arms platforms. 

• For more on how China is becoming a military power in Southeast Asia in a different way, see our new article in World Politics Review here.

Joshua Kurlantzick is a senior fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations. Annabel Richter is a research associate for Southeast Asia and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations.

This edited article was published by the Council on Foreign Relations under a Creative Commons license. Read the original here.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of ChinaFactor.