News Analysis
Few regions are more strategically important to China than the South China Sea (SCS). Beijing has increasingly treated the SCS as a “Chinese lake,” subject to its “indisputable sovereignty.”
Warships and fighter jets of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy take part in a military display in the South China Sea on April 12, 2018. Reuters
Richard A. Bitzinger
Author
Richard A. Bitzinger is an independent international security analyst. He was previously a senior fellow with the Military Transformations Program at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore, and he has held jobs in the U.S. government and at various think tanks. His research focuses on security and defense issues relating to the Asia-Pacific region, including the rise of China as a military power, and military modernization and arms proliferation in the region.
