July 13, 2016

Beijing’s dilemma after South China Sea ruling: Double down or cool down?

Featuring: Mira Rapp-Hooper

Source: The Washington Post

Journalists: Simon Denyer, Emily Rauhala

BEIJING — China’s President Xi Jinping is in a pinch.

For months now, the Communist Party has been whipping up nationalist sentiment, casting the Philippines’ South China Sea case as an illegal and humiliating foreign plot.

On Tuesday, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague delivered what was widely seen as stunning rebuke, finding “no legal basis” for the country’s expansive maritime claims.

Now China’s leader is left with a delicate choice. Does he double down on strident nationalism at the risk of stoking the conflict, or does he find a way, somehow, to take a step back?

 

To read the full article, visit the Washington Post website.

Author

  • Mira Rapp-Hooper

    Former Adjunct Senior Fellow, Asia-Pacific Security Program

    Mira Rapp-Hooper is a former Adjunct Senior Fellow with the Asia-Pacific Security Program at CNAS. She is formerly a Fellow with the CSIS Asia Program and Director of the CSIS...