China and the United States in the South Pacific Ocean: Will Strategic Competition or Practical Cooperation Drive the Future Development

The South Pacific Ocean is emerging as an arena of U.S.-China strategic competition while the practices of the two countries in some areas suggest that the model of cooperation could benefit the regional States. It is hard to foresee whether competition or cooperation will drive the future development of the South Pacific or whether the two phenomena may co-exist. It is determined not only by policies taken by the two States themselves and their perspective engagements with both external stakeholders and regional States. Also, it is critical to understand how the regional states view the United States and China and how they are responding to U.S.-China competition.