ABSTRACT
An essential dispute denotes that established practices of state interaction for securing peace and stability are inadequate. This situation arises because the dispute confronts and tests the compatibility of different states' policies on the balance of power, diplomacy and international law. One indicator in the South China Sea that an essential dispute is in the making is the scramble for effective occupation that the claimant states embarked upon in the course of the 1970s and 1980s. Initially, this competition for possessions in the Spratlys did not threaten regional stability because China did not back its claim to the Spratlys with a military presence in the area. However, the naval battle between China and Vietnam in 1988 was China's first move towards establishing a military presence in the South China Sea. This development posed a challenge to the balance of power, and demonstrated that no governance structure existed that could constrain Chinese power projection in the South China Sea.
