ABSTRACT
The South China Sea dispute is regarded as the most complex and challenging ocean-related regional conflict in East Asia. The security in this region is a concern for both the regional countries and the extra-regional countries due to their strategic and economic interests in this region. U.S.-China relations in and over the South China Sea are only getting more tense in a time of general breakdown in overall U.S.-China relations. Also, the essence of the South China Sea disputes has evolved from the territorial and maritime disputes among the claimant states to the strategic competition that is now between China as a coastal state and the United States as a user state.
