Wu Shicun, Solving Disputes for Regional Cooperation and Development in the South China Sea: A Chinese perspective, Woodhead Publishing, November 2013

 
As a major claimant in the South China Sea, China is usually depicted as a "bully," making aggressive demands of its neighbors and throwing its weight around. In fact, most of these depictions are made by these smaller claimants, and voices from China often fail to gain an upper hand in international public and academic debates.

Different perspectives can help give a full picture on the issue, especially for experts outside of China. Thoughtful and convincing Chinese voices have been somewhat absent from the international arena.

Solving Disputes for Regional Cooperation and Development in the South China Sea: A Chinese perspective, written by Wu Shicun, President of the National Institute for the South China Sea Studies, contributes to the variety of voices on the South China Sea issues.

This book, as an academic monograph, is not only highly pertinent in the context of the growing attention over the conflicts in the South China Sea, but also manages to provide a new Chinese perspective to help the readers better understand the complexity of the South China Sea disputes.

There are very few books written by Chinese scholars in English in this area, which makes this book something of a landmark in the studies of the South China Sea disputes.

The author is the head of a national-level think tank in this subject, and one can learn from the book about China's official position on sovereignty and maritime disputes with regards to the South China Sea.

Nonetheless, the book is not propaganda that blindly endorses the stance of the Chinese government.

Just as the author says in the introduction, he hopes his work cannot only "demonstrate China's official position," but also "analyze the factors triggering the emergence and escalation" of the South China Sea disputes.

This perspective is also built on detailed and prudent academic research that looks at various dimensions, including history, laws, international politics, economics, diplomacy and military affairs.

Such a wide coverage of dimensions makes this book comprehensively supportive to the readers, who will have a much better understanding of China's position in the South China Sea issues, especially its historical and legal basis, and how China has been interacting with other claimants in this area.

More importantly, this book uses one chapter to discuss the new developments in the South China Sea disputes, such as the recent international arbitration launched by the Philippines against China, and Washington's changing strategies in the Asia-Pacific region. These discussions make this book one of the most up-to-date in the market.

This whole book was written under the guidance of a clear authorial philosophy. Wu tries to make this new book both academically oriented and geared toward the international market. Only in this way can the voices of Chinese scholars be communicated internationally, and can the country have a bigger say whenever maritime conflicts emerge.