Military Multipolarity in the South China Sea

... Asian countries in territorial disputes in the South China Sea. However, ASEAN countries are not ready to get involved in a confrontation, let alone to go against their specific economic interests [20] . In terms of the technical aspects of the issue, ASEAN countries have no warships able to counter the strength of China’s ocean-going fleet even given the latter’s currently imperfect condition. Frigate-class warships that Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia all have in service are few in number and primarily perform patrol functions. The most advanced among them are six ...