ABSTRACT
Long regarded as a major source of instability and tension, the South China Sea has posed significant challenges to regional relations in East Asia. Much of the political discourse revolves around managing the risk of possible conflict over disputed claims by a number of countries. 1 The prospects for prosperity and security in the South China Sea are matters for the attention and concern of regional countries (i.e. Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam) and non-regional countries (i.e. India, Japan, Russia and the USA) owing to their economic and strategic interests in this location. As expected, tensions between claimants continued to escalate in 2012 with a series of events related to arrests, litigations, overexploitations and transgressions. 2
