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South China Sea Contestations: Southeast Asia’S Regional Identity And Asean’S Sustainability, Victor R. Savage

Asian Review

Current global news is focused on China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea and the ensuing clash with the United States over the “freedom of marine navigation.” Against this background of territorial claims lies the complex history of old Asian civilizations which undergird no easy resolution of such territorial issues. This paper interrogates the region’s cultural identity paradigm arising from China’s territorial claims, the US-China hegemonic global contestation, the US-China trade war and ASEAN’s responses to the changing geopolitics and extension of China’s geography. It argues that both domestic changes and externalities are affecting ASEAN’s regional cohesion.