Cambodia’s Geopolitical Behavior And Its Impact In The Context Of The South China Sea Arbitration Case

The South China Sea issue has always been an important factor affecting the security and stability around China.The "South China Sea Arbitration Case" triggered by the 2012 Huangyan Island incident is a microcosm of the South China Sea issue for a long time.Its essence is an unreasonable "political farce" caused by these two factors,the internal contradictions among the countries in the region,such as maritime sovereignty,island disputes,resource disputes,etc.,and the external contradictions of major powers outside the region to intervene with the strategic purpose of curbing and containing China’s rise.Based on the theory of marginal zone,this paper mainly analyzes the Geo-setting of the South China Sea in the marginal zone and the geopolitical strategic game of the great power around the South China Sea issue.It’s also analyzes the Geo-setting and geopolitical pattern of Cambodia as well as its Geopolitical choices in the context of the "South China Sea Arbitration Case",explore its cognition of its Geo-structure,Geo-strategy and interests demands,and sort out the impact of its geopolitical behavior on the regional geopolitical pattern,and draw the following three conclusions:First,Cambodia’s geopolitical behavior of choosing standing by China in the "South China Sea arbitration case" is the embodiment of its national geopolitical strategy,and also the result of the game between its own short-term interests and the long-term development of national interests based on the judgment of the geopolitical evolution of the surrounding and global pattern.The second is that Cambodia used its geographical location at the edge of the South China Sea in the evolution of the South China Sea pattern,but it was not an“out-of-region” third-party identity other than the South China Sea dispute country.According to the needs of its national Geo-strategic interests,it has taken the initiative to make its own voice heard in the geopolitical game of the "South China Sea Arbitration Case".It has become a key "wedge" in the direction of the regionalGeo-pattern at the critical moment when the regional Geo-situation is tense.It leverages the evolution of the regional Geo-pattern and the changes in the game pattern of great powers,highlights its Geo-value and accordingly grasps the initiative of geopolitics,thus obtaining chips for long-term developments for domestic political stability and economic development.The third is the impact of the incident.On the one hand,it will have different degrees of impact on relevant players in the game,such as Cambodia,China,stakeholders in the South China Sea and large countries outside the region,changing the process of shaping the regional Geo-pattern.On the other hand,it will become a typical case of Geo-game for small countries to get involved in the Geo-competition of large countries and gain their own interests.