The US-China conflict in the South China Sea in the context of the grand strategy of containing China

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Islamic Azad University, Zanjan Branch

2 PhD student, Department of International Relations, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan, Iran

10.22080/jpir.2025.28852.1426

Abstract

China, along with the expansion of its relative power in the international arena, is also seeking to expand the scope of its geoeconomic and geostrategic interests in this region. The escalation of tensions in the China Sea is an example of Charles Duran's concept of "role and power gap". On the one hand, China, as an emerging power, seeks to advance its economic interests in the South China Sea, which requires redefining its role in this region, and on the other hand, the United States insists on maintaining and even expanding its power in this region. In this regard, the main question of this research is: what is the relationship between the United States and China in the South China Sea with the United States' strategy of containing China? In response to this question, the paper proposes that the conflict between the United States and China in the South China Sea is directly related to the United States' strategy of containing China in order to maintain and expand its dominance over the world's maritime highways as a pillar of the superpower's global supremacy. Based on the findings of this article, using Charles Duran's theory and considering the new position of the economy in global equations, the view of the inevitability of the clash between these two powers has been challenged, and the contingent weight of the role of diplomacy in preventing disaster has been emphasized.

Keywords

Journal of Politics and International Relations
Volume 6, Issue 12
January 2023
Pages 211-236

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