Showcase of Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors (SOURCE)

The Dispute in the South China Sea and a Possible Resolution

This paper asks how China’s increasing insistence on its claims in the South China Sea has impacted their relations with their neighboring southeast Asian nations with competing claims and with the United States and its allies. It also takes stock of past suggested solutions to the South China Sea dispute in the form of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) intervention, maintenance of the status quo, and United Nations intervention while analyzing past studies on the South China Sea dispute and considering statements of relevant government actors. Without proper resolution, the disputes about these territorial claims, escalation will likely continue. This paper suggests that the best way to resolve the South China Sea dispute is for the two superpowers of China and the United States to have formalized negotiations on contested issues in the South China Sea while side-stepping the issue of territorial claims between the Southeast Asian nations. This resolution could occur through bilateral negotiations between China and the United States by focusing on joint development in the region in relation to the economic resources in the South China Sea which in turn could be a starting place for further dispute resolution in the region.