The countries China, Taiwan, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, and Vietnam surround the South China Sea. In order to have a dominating presence in the region, China has increased the amount of military action in this region making it difficult for foreign ships to travel and fish. In the disputed islands located in the South China Sea, China has been creating bases for their army, navy, and air force. Militarizing the South China Sea creates an imbalance of power in Asia, posing a threat to security. Military buildup in the South China Sea is a threat to all countries that use the trading routes. This area contains $5.3 trillion of international trade flow. The South China Sea also contains many natural resources including oil, gas, fishing, and minerals. Increased tensions can lead to military escalations between China and its neighboring countries.
Within the nine-dash line, an unofficial boundary created by the Chinese government, China has created 3,2000 acres of land by piling sand on reefs to create artificial islands. On these artificial islands, China has been installing military bases. Between 2005-2014, China has increased its military budget by 167% while the Philippines only increased their military budget by 30% — both emphasizing improvement on their navy and air force. China’s navy has approximately 235,000 personal, while neighboring countries does not have half the number of military personal combined as China. China has the second largest and most powerful military in the world, after the United States.
To try and deescalate tensions between nations, the United Nations and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have tried to create international agreements to increase cooperation in the South China Sea. The United Nations created the New Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). ASEAN created the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. This document outlined 10 points to promote peace in the South China Sea between neighboring countries. However, these were nonbinding laws, and militarization in the sea still continues.
To promote security in this region there should be multilateral approaches. Multilateral approaches are agreements created by multiple sovereign nations. This is different than previous approaches in the South China Sea, as most approaches were bilateral, between two governments, or unilateral, which involved only one government. Bilateral and unilateral decisions are usually ineffective in international matters, because it creates a unipolar environment. Unipolarity is when one governing body is significantly more powerful than other governing bodies. A multipolar region is when all the parties have a balanced power.
Therefore, in order to create a multipolar environment, multilateral policies must be implemented including multilateral deterrence, creating a new multilateral group to promote cooperation and communication as well as give enforcing power to ASEAN. These approaches can involve not only the countries surrounding the South China Sea, but also allies of these nations, including the U.S, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and India. These policies can discourage military actions, and enforce international law through increased communication, which can lead to cooperation in the South China Sea.
Multilateral policies have been used to solve international disputes. An example of a multilateral group is the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO is made up of 164 members and works to promote international trade. When a trading dispute arises, all members of the WTO help to dissolve the issue. Similar methods the WTO uses to diffuse trading disputes can be implemented in multilateral policies in the South China Sea.