Asian Pacific SLOC security: The China factor

Countries around the world rely on free passage of goods across the seas, with 90- 95 per cent of international trade by volume carried by ships. Maritime traffic in the Asia-Pacific region has undergone considerable growth since the 1970s, with a substantial shift in the balance of trade in both volume and value from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This paper examines China’s role in providing security to sea lines of communication (SLOC), and Beijing’s policies in the South Chine Sea, East China Sea and Taiwan Strait.