ABSTRACT

Although no two easing or deteriorating cycles are identical, this chapter argues that there have been three identifiable features. First a Law of the Sea Convention (LOSC)-linked timeline or deadline has been a visible or invisible presence in the background. Second, cycles of deterioration have typically been led by China slapping down a controversial maritime rights claim. Third, the Philippines has felt the most violated among the claimant states by China's actions, yet has been the most capricious in its policy responses. The chapter concludes by arguing that easing cycles have lent themselves to imaginative approaches by China and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and by China and claimant states in the South China Sea to address and manage their common challenges. It argues the LOSC, and its application in the South China Sea, has hitherto sown more confusion than clarity and has confounded the search for cooperative solutions to their common challenges in this body of water.