ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the literature gap by providing an examination of economic factors' influence on the dynamics of Vietnam's South China Sea disputes with China as well as the shaping of its related strategy. The chapter proceeds in four sections. First, offers a background overview of the disputes and how they have presented themselves as the most serious irritant to bilateral relations. Second, analyses the geo-strategic versus economic drivers of Vietnam's South China Sea disputes and explains why it is necessary to study the role of economic factors in the evolution of the disputes from the Vietnamese point-of-view. The last two, analyzes the role of economic factors in the shaping of Vietnam's South China Sea strategy as well as the recent developments of the disputes. While the third, examines how economic factors have intensified the disputes, the last will provide an assessment of their pacifying effects.
