ABSTRACT
Northeast Asia contains strong-willed and powerful countries with a long history of animosity towards each other. At present, China has territorial and maritime disputes with Japan in the East China Sea and with South Korea and North Korea in the Yellow Sea. The United States is an outside power, but it plays an active military, diplomatic, and economic role in Northeast Asia, especially considering that the United States holds formal military alliances with South Korea and Japan while maintaining troops in South Korea and Japan, respectively. This chapter explores and compares China’s and United States’ policy and legislations on the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea, their presence and influence in this region, and their engagement and relationship with the regional states, concluding with a discussion on the implication for regional security.
