China’s increasingly aggressive posture towards the South China Sea and the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea is less important in itself than as a sign of things to come. For six decades after the second world war, an American “Pax Pacifica” has provided the security and economic framework within which Asian countries have produced the most rapid economic growth in history. However, having emerged as a great power that will overtake the US in the next decade to become the largest economy in the world, it is not surprising that China will demand revisions to the rules established by others.
中國對南中國海和中國東海尖閣諸島（Senkaku Islands，中國稱爲「釣魚臺及其附屬島嶼」）的日益強硬的姿態本身並不重要，重要的是這種姿態所預示的未來。在二戰後的60多年裏，美國的「太平洋和平」爲亞洲國家有史以來最快的經濟成長提供了安全和經濟框架。但是，中國已經崛起爲超級大國，並將在未來十年內取代美國成爲世界最大的經濟體，因此中國提出修訂其他國家設立的規則的要求就毫不奇怪了。