China´s Aspirations in the Spratly Islands

The territorial dispute over the Spratly Island archipelago threatens to disrupt an era of unprecedented peace in Southeast Asia. Strat egic position, on the one hand, and development rights to the offshore resources of much of the South China Sea, on the other, are the real stakes in this dispute. And China appears to be headed for open conflict with Vietnam over offshore development rights in nearby waters. Technology, in the form of offshore oil drilling techniques, advanced military hardware and recently codified concepts of ocean law, offer China new capabilities in this dis pute. China's use of military force to consolidate its position in the Spratlys would have serious implications for both the United States and ASEAN.