U.S. Policy in the South China Sea During the Presidency of D. Trump

This article analyzes U.S. policy in the South China Sea (SCS) during the presidency of D. Trump and examines American strategic interests, objectives, and missions in the region. It explores U.S. policy in the context of the “Indo-Pacific strategy” that became the doctrinal basis of the Trump administration’s policy course in the Asia-Pacific Region (APAC). It takes note of the new level of adversarial relations between the United States and China, which has posed a serious challenge to American military dominion in the SCS and the APAC region. In recent years the United States has significantly increased the scale and frequency of naval maneuvers in the South China Sea. It was under the Trump administration that the United States began actively to recruit its allies, including from outside region, for joint operations in the SCM. Particular attention is devoted to the so-called Freedom of Navigation Operations that the U.S. Navy conducts in the disputed waters. These operations have a dual purpose: On the one hand, they are positioned as peacemaking operations intended solely to protect freedom of navigation; on the other, they are the United States’ principal tool for containing Chinese military ambitions, thereby leading to heightened tensions in the region.