The territorial dispute over the Spratly Island is often described as a major regional security flashpoint. The dispute is one of the crucial problems afflicting China and four Southeast Asian claimant states: Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. The South China Sea, and the Spartly Island in particular, has become the focus of tension between the uncertain limits of China’s rise and the discomfort of it’s Southeast Asian neighbours due to the prospect of becoming China’s backyard. The South China Sea dispute is no longer just about territory but also about broader maritime rights, resources, and increasingly, about the role of China as a rising power in East Asia vis-à-vis the United States as the status quo power. The regional concerns of Southeast Asia overlap with the global concerns of the United States.