China and Vietnam in the South China Sea Dispute: A Creeping ‘Conflict–Peace–Trepidation’ Syndrome

The South China Sea dispute which has spilled over from the twentieth to the twenty-first century, is yet to find an amicable solution. The root cause of this tension is the dispute among the various claimants as regards the procurement of energy resources and securing territorial legitimacy. The entry of the US into the picture has further complicated the problem. In order to evolve a congenial regional environment, the disputing countries must evolve a collaborative outlook, not confrontationist, and adopt a regional perspective rather than proceed from their national interest only and take recourse to multilateral mechanisms as a means to reduce tension in the region. If the prognosis that the ‘21st century is the century of Asia’ is to be made a reality, then the economic prosperity and development of the Asian region will be essential, for which, all the disputing countries should change their mindset from local to global level and keep the South China Sea region as less tension-prone as possible.