The United States Response to China’s Increasing Power Projection in the Eastern and Southern Seas

This paper studies the competition between China and the United States in the eastern and southern flanks of the China Sea and concentrates on the question of what factors have exacerbated tensions between China and the United States in the eastern and southern seas. In response I hypothesize that the rise in china’s sea power has challenged the United States marine preponderance which has resulted in the increase in the two countries tensions. The thesis is tested using Gilpin’s neorealist theory of hegemonic stability. The author discusses that the rise in china’s economic growth has increased this country’s marine power, challenging the United States sea superiority around the sea of china. The author also discusses that since the economic growth is a result of innovation in technology, the rise in power of the marginal states in the periphery of the international system is tied to their replication of industrial know-hows in the developed countries. This explains why china’s success in replication has translated to the rise in its wealth and power.