China’s maritime power challenges fundamental rules governing the world’s oceans. Beijing is at odds with each of its littoral neighbors over how the international law of the sea should apply to boundaries, resources, and dispute resolution. These maritime disputes offer unique insights into China’s emerging vision for international rules and the role of state sovereignty in the international order. Moreover, China’s proposed navigational rules conflict with those of U.S. and its maritime allies which will impact the future of great power competition in the oceans and beyond. Who makes the rules that underpin order in the maritime domain? Is “China’s law of the sea” already in effect in maritime East Asia?
Join Carnegie’s Ashley J. Tellis, Isaac B. Kardon, and Fiona Cunningham for a conversation on China’s maritime strategy in East Asia, and to preview Kardon’s new book China’s Law of the Sea: The New Rules of Maritime Order (Yale, 2023).
