Today's hearing will cover China's maritime disputes in the East and South China Seas. We'll examine the security, political, legal, and economic drivers of these disputes in our three panels today. The first panel will begin by discussing the broad security situation on the high seas. As China's maritime forces have become more capable over the past decade, Beijing has become more confident in its ability to assert its claims in the disputed areas. Beyond China's "hard" security concerns, however, other domestic, political, and legal elements shape China's policy in the East and South China Seas. Our second panel will consider popular nationalism as one of these elements. It has become a key driver of Chinese foreign policy as personality politics in Beijing has given way to a collective leadership seeking Party legitimacy. We'll conclude with a panel on how resources and economic drivers shape China's maritime disputes. Security of China's near seas is critical to the unimpeded flow of trade and imported energy resources. Though the natural resources in the East and South China Sea undoubtedly shape the security landscape, there appears to be a debate on the centrality of oil and gas resources to the dispute.

Prepared by the East Asian Institute, NUS, which promotes research on East Asian developments particularly the political, economic and social development of contemporary China (including Hong Kong and Taiwan), this series of research reports is intended for policy makers and readers who want to keep abreast of the latest developments in China. Yann-Huei Song describes and analyses the evolution of the South China Sea Workshops.

This challenging new book argues that the People's Republic of China is pursuing a long-term strategy to extend its national power by sea.

The relationship between Taiwan and the People's Republic of China is regarded as a very serious potential source of conflict in East Asia, especially now that the questions of Hong Kong and Macau have been settled, and increased democratisation in Taiwan is seen as a threat by mainland China. This book, which brings together leading international scholars of maritime security and also strategic thinkers from within Taiwan itself, examines a wide range of questions concerning Taiwan's perception of the naval threat from mainland China, and how Taiwan's navy and naval strategic thinking is responding, including discussions of the strength of Taiwan's naval forces, mainland China's claims and ambitions in the South China Sea, and the controversial question of Theatre Missile Defence.