Journal of Civil & Legal Sciences
Open Access

Research Article

China and Thailand: A Pacific Affair, or is China Leading ASEAN down the Garden Path with Rose-tinted Spectacles?

Antonio L Rappa^*

SIM University, Singapore

Corresponding Author:

Antonio L Rappa
SIM University, Singapore
Tel: +65 62485002
E-mail: rappa@unisim.edu.sg

Received April 27, 2016; Accepted May 16, 2016; Published May 23, 2016

Citation: Rappa AL (2016) China and Thailand: A Pacific Affair, or is China Leading ASEAN down the Garden Path with Rose-tinted Spectacles? J Civil Legal Sci 5:192. doi:10.4172/2169-0170.1000192

Copyright: © 2016 Rappa AL. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

China has the motive and capability to control the Southeast Asian region by controlling the routes in and around the Spratly Islands, the Paracels and other smaller rocks. By using a military strategy of granulated encroachment, China is slowly building up military and naval capabilities in Southeast Asia in order to control the various shipping and air passages. The Chinese President had recently warned the Philippines not to infringe on its traditional claims which China states dates back to the 11th and 12th centuries. In late October 2015, an American warship sailed through the South China Sea near the Spratly Islands indicating the American presence and its ability to activate the Pacific-based Seventh Fleet if necessary. This paper examines and analyses on-going Chinese interests and reveals how they intend to take over and influence economics and politics in Southeast Asia. It also considers Thailand’s special relationship with China that dates back at least seven centuries.

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