Abstract
This article explains the shift in China’s behavior in the South China Sea between two periods: the first from 2000–2008 and the second from 2008–2014. It analyzes China’s behavior as a dependent variable of the shifting power structures of the Asia-Pacific region, arguing that a shift in regional economic structure and in attitudes toward the use of naval power, combined with the U.S. pivot to Asia and the feedback loop China’s behavior causes, have together been responsible for China’s increased assertiveness in the South China Sea. This analysis forms a part of the complex tangle of motives, actions and counter-actions by all parties in the South China Sea, and allows us a more nuanced understanding of China’s motives than the headlines would offer.
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