Study On U.S. South China Sea Policy Under Its China Strategy During The Cold War Era

The South China Sea, as one of the three largest marginal seas of Asia, communicating the Pacific and Indian Ocean, is the maritime corridor linking Asia and Oceania. It is also the world’s second channel in addition to the Mediterranean fairway. And because of its rich energy resources, it is known as the "Second Persian Gulf". Thus it can be seen that South China Sea has a very important strategic position whether in geopolitical or in terms of economic development. In recent years, the area once again becomes the focus of international attention due to the intensification of neighboring countries’ disputes over the sovereignty of South China Sea and the Intervention of great powers outside the region. The United States because of its superpower status and enormous influence of the long-term in the region decide that any research in the field of international politics related to the South China Sea issue cannot ignore the American reason.The United States has long involved in South China Sea. The study of history shows, after the first contact with this area, the United States regarded it as an important trade route and then upgraded it to a strategic level till today. This process is greatly associated with China, and to some extent, America’s China policy is highly relevant to its South China Sea policy. Therefore, The United States’South China Sea policy in a certain period of time should be analyzed in the framework of America’s China policy. Contrary to the vague China strategy in the post Cold War era, America’s strategy towards China in the Cold War had undergone two distinct stages, each of which was accompanied with major shifts in its policies of the South China Sea. The explanation and contrast of the policies in these two periods is an indication of the importance of to study America’s South China Sea policies from the strategic perspective. Therefore, this thesis is intended to choose the Cold War as the time domain to study America’s policies and action in South China Sea.Based on this logic, the thesis is intended to answer these following questions:What were the policies that the United States adopted towards the South China Sea under its two contrasting strategies towards China and what were the effects of these policies? In the first half of the Cold War, when the United States took the containment policy, South China Sea, as an edge sea adjacent to China, became the frontier for America to contain China, thus America took advantage of the area and took a series of actions. During the preparations for international treaties on Paracel and Spratly islands, the United States created the public opinion of undetermined sovereignty and built anti-Communism dam in the surrounding area. Besides, the United States actively interfered with the conflicts in the South China Sea, expanded military bases, organized military operations and took military actions. This caused much tension to China, both in its foreign relations and national security. In this way, the United States partly accomplished the strategic goal of containing China and Communism. In the second half of the Cold War, the United States adopted the detente strategy towards China. The rapid decline of strategic position of the South China Sea in America’s strategy made the United States remain an outsider in any dispute in South China Sea between China and other countries. The United States had taken a neutral policy towards its ally or foe in South China Sea issue until the end of the Cold War. This non-interference stance played an important role in easing relations with China and beating the Soviet Union. In the conclusion part, the thesis found that the study on South China Sea policy of the United States during the Cold War era is conducive to the studying the motivations behind America’s current policy and seeking solutions of the South China Sea dilemma of China.