Economic Connectivity and Maritime Power: Assessing the Strategic Implication of China’s Maritime Silk Road in The South China Sea

Abstract

The South China Sea has become a major arena of geopolitical competition due to its strategic maritime routes, natural resources, overlapping territorial claims, and importance to global trade. Although the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Particularly the 21st Century Maritime silk Road aims to strengthen economic connectivity, its relationship to China Maritime strategy and regional security remains a significant concern. This Study examine how China economic and strategic objectives intersect in the South China Sea and explore the implications for regional maritime security. The study adopt a qualitative research approach based on documentary analysis of academic literature, policy documents and publically available material on China maritime activities and regional responses. Its draws on Alfred Thayer Mahan’s Sea Power theory, complemented by a geo economic perspective, to analyze the relationship between maritime commerce, strategic infrastructure, navel capabilities and regional influence. The analysis suggest that the BRI economic connectivity objectives intersect with China’s broader efforts to protect sea lines of communication, strengthen maritime capabilities and expend its regional influence. However the strategic implications of this interaction are shaped by competing territorial claims, regional resistance and the involvement of external powers, particularly the Unites States. The study argues that economic connectivity alone does not establish maritime dominance, its strategic effects depends on political conditions, security dynamics and responses of regional actors. By examining economic and security dimensions together this research contribute to understanding the relationship between china’s connectivity initiative and maritime competition in the Indo-Pacific.