Asia is witnessing a jostling among its major powers — China, Japan and India — for regional strategic space, and a flurry of activity by these countries is focused toward the Southeast Asia region, once a stable region but now a potential area for conflict. China, which is already a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), is a superpower aspirant, while Japan and India are yearning for a permanent slot in the UNSC. A common thread is all three need a favorable regional system to prop up their position and prestige.
At the same time, Southeast Asian countries are now increasingly welcoming major powers, including the United States, to be involved in regional security matters in order to withstand China's high-handedness in the disputed waters of South China Sea. China is involved in territorial disputes in the resource-rich Spratly and Paracels islands in the South China Sea with Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia.
China is increasingly asserting itself in the South China Sea, the latest action being a massive naval drill in the disputed waters in mid-June, hundreds of miles from China's southern most border, in what is widely perceived as intimidating Vietnam. In fact, in May, cables of a seismic survey ship owned by Vietnamese oil and gas company Petro-Vietnam were allegedly severed by a Chinese fishing boat, which Vietnam accuses as a deliberate provocation. An unidentified Oceanic Administration official was quoted in China's news media as saying that the civilian maritime surveillance force would be increased to 1,500 from 9,000 personnel by 2020 to safeguard Chinese interests in the Sea.