The South China Sea is a geopolitical hotspot where China and the US compete for dominance and the adjacent countries try to improve their position by hedging between these two superpowers. This book unpacks the conflicting and competing interpretations of what is going on in the South China Sea.It will allow readers to understand the depth and complexity of the issues.It expands our understanding by looking not only at the competing imaginaries of China and the US but also the hedging strategies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members including Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam, and the role of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. This book will appeal to all of those interested in international relations, Southeast Asia, US-China relations and all those seeking to understand conflicts in the South China Sea, one of the world’s geopolitical hotspots.