SESSION 5: Security, Politics and Diplomacy Moderator: Dr. Ulises Granados, Coordinator of Asia-Pacific Studies, The Autonomous Technology Institute of Mexico As the South China Sea becomes a theatre for major power rivalry, there is a need to examine the strategies and policies of the relavent powers and relations among them. What factors have driven great powers’ maritime strategies and how they have perceived each other actions. What are these powers’ goals in the South China Sea, greater security or greater power? Are there any misperceptions or security dilemmas between the claimants and between major powers? In view of rising tensions in the South China Sea, it is important to study how ASEAN has handled the regional maritime affairs and how South China Sea politics affected its claim to centrality in the Asia-Pacific regional security architecture. Speakers: • Mr. Abhijit Singh, Senior Fellow and Head of the Maritime Security Initiative at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in New Delhi, India “India’s Strategic Stakes in the South China Sea” • Prof. Shi Yinhong, Director of the Center for American Studies, Institute of International Relations, Renmin University, China "Strategic Military" with "Strategic Economy": China’s Approach toward the United States and Its Pacific Partners • RADM Michael McDevitt (USN, Ret.), Senior Fellow, Strategic Studies Program, Center for Naval Analyses, USA “Wither US’s Rebalancing: South China Sea and the Asia-Pacific under the New US Administration” • Dr. Tran Viet Thai, Deputy Director General, Institute for Foreign Policy and Strategic Studies, Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam “The South China Sea and ASEAN’s Unity-Diversity: Role, Expectation and Adaptation”