Gestating since the 1990s, this objective to assert China’s power on the seas, either through the modernisation of the Navy or the development of the marine economy, was presented as a priority at the launch of the 12th Five‑Year Plan (2011-2015) and the 18th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in November 2012.ģ China’s overall policy toward the China Seas is a complex policy with four main objectives: the first is to claim islands and maritime areas the second is to strengthen its control over the China Seas in order to more effectively defend its coasts and maritime routes the third is to assert its power in the context of its strategic rivalry with Japan and the United States and the fourth is to develop the exploitation of natural resources to meet the needs of its population and its economy. The Chinese policy toward the China Seas fits within the dual context of a more ambitious foreign policy seeking to influence the world order through the transformation of some norms and the creation of new institutions, 2 and of a domestic policy aimed at building a genuine maritime power. This special feature, consisting of this introduction and four articles by Mathieu Duchâtel, Shinji Yamaguchi, Benoît de Tréglodé, and Alexandre Sheldon‑Duplaix, attempts to explain the main recent developments in China’s policy toward the China Seas, to identify its goals, and to understand its determinants. 1 It complements an already rich literature that is difficult to summarise here due to the multi-sectoral and multidisciplinary nature of the analysed theme. 2 On this point, see the recent special feature of China Perspectives edited by Jean-Pierre Cabestan: (.)Ģ Without aiming to be comprehensive, this special feature studies some aspects of China’s policy towards the China Seas.1 This special feature corresponds with the publication of oral papers given in the framework of a se (.).More recently, between October 2015 and May 2016, the United States held three Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOP), indicating that apart from territorial disputes between neighbouring countries, the geopolitical situation in the China Seas is primarily the result of the Sino‑American strategic rivalry. This is borne out by the firmer action taken by states, such as China’s construction of civilian and military infrastructure in the Spratlys, Japan’s nationalisation of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands in September 2012, and the arbitration proceedings initiated by the Philippines in January 2013. These analyses are even more important now that power relations are being expressed with more force in the South China Sea as well as the East China Sea in recent years. Top of pageġ The multiple tensions that have existed in the China Seas since the late 2000s, manifested in the inflexibility of narratives relating to sovereign rights or in provocations and skirmishes at sea, have made it necessary to analyse more thoroughly the maritime and foreign policies of the states involved. They discuss security issues, actors’ strategies, cooperation, and naval power. (…) The four articles that structure this special feature each shed light in their own way on Chinese policy toward the China Seas. Without aiming to be comprehensive, this special feature studies some aspects of China’s policy towards the China Seas. More recently, between October 2015 and May 2016, the United States held three Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOP), indicating that apart from territorial disputes between neighbouring countries, the geopolitical situation in the China Seas is primarily the result of the Sino-American strategic rivalry. The multiple tensions that have existed in the China Seas since the late 2000s, manifested in the inflexibility of narratives relating to sovereign rights or in provocations and skirmishes at sea, have made it necessary to analyse more thoroughly the maritime and foreign policies of the states involved.
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