Mô tả
The South China Sea will remain a significant foreign policy issue for the United States for the foreseeable future. U.S. interests in upholding freedom of navigation and international norms, in opposing assertive behavior to settle conflicting claims, in supporting ASEAN’s cohesion, and in implementing a geographically distributed, resilient and sustainable force posture in Asia, converge in the South China Sea. Secretary of State Clinton has repeatedly tied the South China Sea to a planned post-Afghanistan pivot in U.S. foreign policy to the “Asia – Pacific,” now redefined to stretch from the India into the Pacific. In this new American “mental map,” the South China Sea is a hinge linking East and South Asia. In retrospect, it took two unpredictable events - the 2001 terrorists attacks on the U.S. and China’s decision a decade ago to temporarily shelve the South China Sea as a contentious issue as it sought to court Southeast Asia - to divert American attention from this critical trade route. Among the most challenging issues will be working with China and ASEAN states to encourage a revision of China’s current claims in accordance with established principles of international law.
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