The South China Sea as a Clash of Interests between the United States and China: Escalation of Confrontation in 2009

The Asia-Pacific region plays a significant role in the modern world. With the coming to the government of Barack Obama and his policy of «pivot to the East», the waters of the South China Sea became one of the central points of the conflict between Washington and Beijing. The purpose of the article is to consider by the author the escalation of the Sino-American confrontation in the South China Sea through the prism of the March incident between the American warship «Impeccable» and the Chinese ships. On March 9, 2009, a serious conflict broke out between the two countries in the water area of South China Sea. Opinions differ in both countries about what has led to the current situation in the South China Sea. Beijing considered the United States warship as a spy ship, while Washington insisted it was a research ship. Based on various sources in Chinese and English, the author analyzes the positions of the United States and China on the above problem. It is widely believed in China that it was America's strategy to reassert influence in the Asia-Pacific region and its direct intervention that escalated tensions and made the problem worse. U.S. accuses China of non-compliance with international law. It also should be noted that in Russian historiography the emergence of the confrontation between the United States and China in the waters of the South China Sea is very poorly covered. Studying the views of researchers and representatives of the diplomatic corps of the two countries, the author comes to the conclusion that the territorial dispute between Beijing and Washington occurred due to different interpretations of international law.