Abstract
Chinese confrontational behavior in the East and South China Seas has led observers to assert that it has a “Monroe Doctrine.” These discussions, however, have been vague as to what a Chinese Monroe Doctrine might actually be. This article will examine evidence for the degree to which China’s current behavior actually constitutes a regional exclusion doctrine, rather than the more commonly used term “Monroe Doctrine.” China specifically denies the analogy and denies excluding other countries from the region. However, recent leadership statements and declarations of an air defense identification zone in the East China Sea (and possibly in the South China Sea), point to the incremental development of just such a doctrine. Additional Chinese discussions of the “security belts” and “island chains” as strategic zones, moreover, would seem to point in that direction. The apparent lack of a formal exclusionary doctrine remains curious, and alternative explanations for this exist.
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