A U.S. South China Sea Perspective: Just Over the Horizon

egan more than a century ago; however, the landscape and regional players have dramatically
changed.
U.S. sea power will continue to ensure the safety and openness of the Pacific Ocean’s sea
lines of communication, but the presence of U.S. warships today will additionally help provide a
check on China’s growing military power. In addition to Russia and the United States, China is
the only other nation worldwide that is simultaneously building aircraft carriers, strategic
ballistic missile submarines, stealth fighters, nuclear attack submarines and navigation satellites.
With renewed U.S. foreign policy interest in the Pacific region, and the South China Sea in
particular, U.S. naval presence will likely increase as will overseas bases. While the South China
Sea has been embroiled in clashes over fishing rights and diplomatic posturing over sovereignty
issues, the region has enjoyed a peaceful existence for the past thirty years. Assertive U.S. policy
and increased military presence will likely create instability in the region.
The South China Sea’s Growing Importance
The importance of the South China Sea, which borders eight nations — China, Vietnam,
Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, and the Philippines — has grown as the trade that passes
through the area has become integral to the global economy. The merchant vessels sailing the
waters form a ‘super waterway’ that connects the busiest shipping ports in the world —
Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Guangzhou — to all corners of the globe. Almost half, in
terms of tonnage, of all commercial goods pass through the South China Sea, including over
US$1.2 trillion in U.S. trade each year. 3 One of the main arteries that feeds the South China Sea
trade is the Malacca Strait, which flows between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island
of Sumatra. Of all the world’s chokepoints, only the Strait of Hormuz has more oil tankers
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