Abstract:
This paper briefly reviews the changing situation of the South China
Sea in 2014 and the first half of 2015. It analyses the behaviour and
motivations of concerned parties and evaluates the effects of the
strategies they have adopted. It argues that although the related parties
of the South China Sea, such as China, the Philippines and Vietnam and
indirectly related countries such as the US all stress the importance of
maintaining peace and stability of the South China Sea, their intentions
to control the situation have weakened to a certain degree. In fact, they
hope for the escalation of the conflict to a limited degree rather than any
reduction in the tensions, and conflict management instead of conflict
resolution. Under the joint force of the policies and their implementation
by different parties, the situation in the South China Sea has the potential
to escalate, with the risk of igniting a more serious conflict
