ABSTRACT
The general perception is that the story in the South China Sea began when the Chinese government (Republican government, Taiwan) drew the dash-line map in 1947. The region then experienced several eventful decades, and an environment inducive to economic and political development only emerged in the 1990s. Having survived the fi nancial crisis that struck hard in late 1990s, the region was confronted with another challenge, the South China Sea dispute. Before it gradually surfaced China (both Chinese governments across the Taiwan Strait, the People’s Republic and the Republic of China) was involved in couples of events, confronting Vietnam in the Paracel Islands in 1974 and Mischief Reef in 1995. Maritime skirmishes drew an inscrutable veil on these remote, barren and uninhabitable rocks spread across the South China Sea. In particular, the rather under-developed-ness of naval capability of coastal countries largely hollowed out their South China Sea claims. Without enough naval resources, their claims could be fortifi ed, let alone implemented in a meaningful way. Yet, amid the growing tension, in the beginning of the twenty-fi rst century, China and ASEAN countries for the fi rst time laid down their projections to a peaceful South China Sea in a document, the Declaration of Conduct. While vowing to seek peaceful resolutions, these outlooks remain lip service that is hortatory, waiting for political will and real action.
