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Abstract

Chinese assertiveness in East and Southeast Asia has been increasing rapidly over the past decade, raising tensions as it seeks to spread its power and influence in the region. Key focal points for Chinese belligerence have been the South China Sea and Taiwan. Thus, it is these areas this dissertation seeks to explore in more detail. Mearsheimer’s theory of Offensive Realism will be used as the baseline theoretical framework, as it seeks to explain the behaviour of great powers. According to Mearsheimer, China will seek to dominate the East Asian region as its power rises, drawing it into conflict with surrounding nations and the US, which acts as an offshore balancer to maintain the status quo of regional power distribution. This dissertation argues that China will continue to act in accordance with offensive realist assumptions as it seeks to achieve hegemony in its local region of Asia. China’s aggressive actions have been increasing in frequency and magnitude towards both the South China Sea and Taiwan, and will likely only continue as its relative power vis-à-vis the US and other local powers increases. Additionally, this dissertation will analyse motivating factors behind Chinese hard power use that are undervalued in offensive realism, namely nationalism. Whilst using offensive realism to more easily understand the motivations behind Chinese use of hard power, it is important to also to analyse overlooked factors, as it is the purpose of this paper to fully understand the Chinese reasoning behind its use of force

Course: International Relations and Politics - BA (Hons) - C0694

Date Deposited: 2022-02-17

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis13822.html