SOUTH CHINA SEA SECURITY REPORT-China’s Maritime Enforcement Operations

Recently, Grandview Institution released the South China Sea Security Report-China’s Maritime Enforcement Operations. The report was jointly authored by Liu Xiaobo, Director of the Center for Maritime Studies at Grandview Institution, and Yi Wushuang, Research Fellow at the same center.

Throughout 2025, the South China Sea was characterized by frequent friction alongside limited crisis management. Maritime standoffs between China and the Philippines continued across Scarborough Shoal, Second Thomas Shoal, Sabina Shoal, and Sandy Cay, while external actors—the United States foremost among them—deepened their involvement through joint patrols, military exercises, defense cooperation, and political backing for Manila. In response, Beijing steadily tightened its effective hold over Scarborough Shoal, Second Thomas Shoal, and select uninhabited Spratly Features.

Beijing’s enforcement posture has become a key factor in the regional security environment. Through measures such as announcing territorial sea baselines for Scarborough Shoal, designating a national nature reserve, publishing ecological survey reports, routinizing China Coast Guard (CCG) enforcement, and expanding People’s Liberation Army (PLA) combat-readiness patrols, China has integrated sovereignty assertion, frontline enforcement, and rules-setting into a more comprehensive posture. What was once largely reactive is now more systematic, sustained, and institutionalized, with growing coordination among administrative jurisdiction, coast guard operations, ecological surveys, and military support.

This report takes China’s enforcement operations as its central analytical thread and traces developments since 2025. Section I examines the formation and operational logic of China’s integrated South China Sea enforcement system. Section II charts the evolution of the China–Philippines maritime dispute across Scarborough Shoal, Second Thomas Shoal, Sabina Shoal, and Sandy Cay. Section III addresses China’s differentiated responses to other claimants as external-power involvement deepens. Section IV assesses progress in Code of Conduct consultations and their regional implications. Section V offers projections for 2026.

SCS Security Report-China’s Maritime Enforcement Operations_2026_Grandview.pdf