One region where the national interest of states is figuring prominently in inter-state relations today is South East Asia. This principal factor in the behaviour of states is being brought to the fore in a pronounced manner currently as a result of China declaring what is being referred to as an Air Defence Identification Zone in the East China Sea. This measure, which is essentially intended to protect what China sees as territories belonging to it in the East China Sea, is plunging it into what is seemingly a collision course with some of its neighbours in the region: South Korea, Japan and the Philippines.
The East China Sea, showing surrounding regions, islands, cities, and seas