The South China Sea as a 'crisis'

Abstract

This chapter undertakes such a comparative analysis and contends, contrary to much recent commentary on East Asian security, that the South China Sea is the least dangerous among Asia's present crisis points. The South China Sea has been routinely referred to as one of, if not the, most dangerous and flammable crises points in Asia today. Analysts seeking to explain why Beijing might regard the South China Sea as a core interest typically refer to energy security considerations. The chapter, however, in recent years respected commentators such as Cha have referred to the Korean Peninsula as a dangerous crisis point. Applying the first of Swaine's three criteria, there is little questioning that the Korean Peninsula is an area where the core interests of both China and the US are genuinely engaged. There is a voluminous body of scholarship examining a range of strategic crises and their various elements.