China and hegemonic competition against the United States of America in the South China Sea

Subject Areas : International Relations

Saman Pasand Aghajani ^{1 *} , morteza nourmohammadi ²

1 - M.A in International Relations
2 - allameh tabataei university

Received: 2023-08-09 Accepted : 2024-04-09 Published : 2025-06-04

Keywords: China, South Sea, Hegemony, Power Transition, United States of America,

Abstract :

China's emergence as an active international player has been one of the most significant events in today's world. Beijing’s economic power over recent decades and its international ambitions with the U.S. in the last decades have shaped today’s great power rivalry. Moreover, China's changing international position has resulted in a major shift in the present international order and Beijing is becoming a new revisionist power based on diplomacy and an active economy. Along with this expansion of power, a new challenge has also arisen for America’s order and leadership in the world arena, a challenge that has caused Washington and Beijing to confront each other more and more in recent years. Now, the main question of the current research is, what goals does China seek to achieve by challenging the hegemony of the U.S. in the South Sea? The findings of the research show that China, relying on its economic strength and increasing its military spending, especially by militarizing the islands in the South Sea, has sought to reduce the role of the U.S. in the region in the first place, and then by expanding its influence and equalizing its power, it has tried to bring the U.S. into the third stage of the theory of power transition and restore its hegemonic position in the region. The method of the research design is descriptive and analytical, and the research data has been analyzed using a qualitative method. To investigate this issue, the theory of power transition has been used.