New Chinese Leadership, New Policy in the South China Sea Dispute?

Following the inauguration of the new leadership during the annual National People's congress in March 2013, China unveiled a series of maritime institutional reforms. The intensification of efforts to realize China's maritime aspirations and to re-establish effective control over previously neglected maritime space is unprecedented. It raises a critical question: What is the new leadership's South China Sea policy? This paper attempts to address this question by examining the new signs in Beijing's evolving policy on the China's maritime territorial disputes in the South China Sea under Xi's strong man leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]