An Exploration of China’s New South China Sea Strategy from the Perspective of the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road

In the context of the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, the South China Sea serves as a vital “throat” and necessary passage for the two ocean transportation routes connecting the Maritime Silk Road to the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. It is a sea area where neighboring countries have numerous contradictions and disputes over issues such as territorial sea boundaries, island and reef sovereignty, and marine energy resource exploitation. It is also a strategic “arena” for neighboring countries and extraregional powers. Furthermore, it is a “testing sea” and demonstration area for neighboring countries and related countries to build a “community with a shared future for mankind at sea.” Under the backdrop of “profound changes unseen in a century,” China’s new South China Sea strategy requires macro considerations of China’s grand strategy for sea power and meso-level considerations of the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. Regarding the latter, China’s new South China Sea strategy should be implemented from two dimensions: ASEAN and extraregional powers, addressing the issue with a “two-pronged approach.” Specifically, it should enhance the willingness and ability of both China and ASEAN to shape the order in the South China Sea, with economic cooperation as the main axis, political mutual trust as the foundation, and humanistic exchanges as the support. The most critical aspect of extraregional powers is the strategic game and competition between China and the United States in the South China Sea. For China, it should seize the opportunity of the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road to expand cooperation areas and converging interests between China and the United States in the South China Sea, increase mutual trust and clarify misunderstandings on the basis of respecting each other’s core concerns, reduce strategic misjudgments, and maximize the weakening and reduction of the “negative energy” of the United States on the South China Sea issue.