In dealing with its maritime disputes, China has lately followed an intransigent approach to strengthen its sovereignty claims in the China seas (The East China Sea and South China Sea) Beijing asserts not only its sovereign right but also its actual control of those disputed islands. By regularly dispatching maritime patrol vessels and surveillance aircrafts to the surrounding waters and skies, China has brought the Huangyan islands from the Philippines back under its control and made what is referred to as 'dual control' of the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands a new reality. China rejects US involvement in the disputes and is prepared to go a long way to defuse anti-China encirclement in the region.

Zhongqi Pan,
Professor at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs at
Fudan University, Shanghai, China

 

Read the ISPI Study - Territorial disputes in Asia: Many players, many tensions, and no solutions