In contrast to Chinas improving relations with its neighbors on land，its disputewith a maritime neighbor，the Philippines，over islands in the South China Seacontinues.But the dispute is contained because both nations want to avoid spillovereffects into their bilat-eral political and economic relationships ，accordingto McNally and Morrison.43China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations recentlysigned an agreement to man-age such territorial disputes in the South China Sea.In any event，according to DoD ，the Chinese navy is inferior to other regionalnavies in most technologies ，especially surveil-lance；air defense；and command，control ，communications，computers，and intelligence （C4I ）。44Therefore ，those naviesalone or in concertshould be able to contain any Chinese adventurism，should negotiations fail.In the end，however，who owns the small island chainsin the South China Sea，or the resources under the waters surrounding them ，isnot important to the security of the United States.The United States should notinterfere in efforts to negotiate a peaceful solution to the problem. 1 |
