China's multilateralism and the South China sea conflict: Quest for hegemonic stability

Abstract

The South China Sea is considered as a possible catalyst of regional unrest. Multilateralism has emerged as a good option for to resolve the conflicts peacefully. Although the Chinese maintain a cautious stance towards multilateralism, a remarkable change of attitude took place in the 1990s. However, Chinaa??s unilateral moves in the early 1990s seemed to go against its embrace of multilateralism. The paper is intent to agree that Chinaa??s entry into multilateral cooperative mechanism is going to pursue hegemonic status in the region. The research design of this paper follows a way of qualitative analysis with the case study as the main methodology. The cases cover a??Track Ia?? ASEAN Regional Forum and a??Track IIa?? Indonesian workshop on a??Managing Potential Conflicts in South China Seaa??, ranging from 1990 to 2001. The conclusion will shed light on the policy implications for the other disputants and outsiders to respond to the rising China.