Major law and policy issues in the South China Sea are wide-ranging and often complex, involving claimants and non-claimants. In recent years disputes have resulted in third party involvement as manifested by actions taken by the United States, India and Japan. This book examines major law and policy issues in the South China Sea from legal and political perspectives and from the view point of American and European experts who have been studying the South China Sea issues for many years.

I: Introduction; 1: South China Sea Issues in European and American Perspectives: An Introduction; II: General Assessment of South China Sea Issues; 2: Regional Maritime Cooperation in the South China Sea: COBSEA and PEMSEA; 3: China-ASEAN and the South China Sea: Chinese Assertiveness and Southeast Asian Responses; III: Major Legal Issues in the South China Sea; 4: An Analysis of China's Claim to Historic Rights in the South China Sea; 5: Possibility of US Accession to the LOS Convention and its Potential Impact on State Practices and Maritime Claims in the South China Sea; 6: Maritime Boundary Delimitation, Excessive Claims and Effective Regime Building in the South China Sea; 7: Bringing the South Pole to the South China Sea: Towards the Establishment of an International Regime for Peace and Security; 8: Bringing the North Pole to the South China Sea: Dots and Lines on Maps and their Explanation; IV: Major Policy Issues in the South China Sea; 9: Close Encounters of the Maritime Kind: Freedom of Navigation and its Impact on the South China Sea Problem; 10: Jockeying for Position in the South China Sea: Cooperative Strategy or Managed Conflict?; 11: Could China and Vietnam Resolve the Conflicts in the South China Sea?; 12: The South China Sea: A Piece in the Global Naval Encirclement Strategy of Taiwan by Mainland China; V: Taiwan's Participation in the South China Sea Dialogue Process; 13: Confidence-Building Measures in the South China Sea and Implications for US-Taiwan-China Relations; 14: The South China Sea Workshop Process and the Need for Taiwan's Continuing Involvement in Regional Ocean Initiatives; VI: Conclusion; 15: Conclusions and Further Reflections