title: The Case for Autonomy: A Military, and Legal, Option for Creating Capacity to Handle Challenges in the South China Sea
abstract: Abstract The number and type of disputes emerging in the South China Sea are many and complex. However, there are two key challenges, faced by many littoral States in the South China Sea which are consistent, and interlinked. The first one are attempted restrictions on the freedom of navigation as provided for under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The second one is the need to build capacity to increase Maritime Domain Awareness, which in turn, will assist in upholding the freedom of na