The article analyzes the recently escalated contradictions in the South China Sea region. The peak of tension occurred in the first half of 2011, when a number of serious incidents occurred in its waters between China and the Philippines, China and Vietnam. The situation in this area is complicated by the sudden activity of Washington, which advocates freedom of navigation and seeks to ensure its participation in the settlement of the conflict. Keywords: South China Sea, US-China relations, freedom of navigation, Paracel Islands, Spratly Islands. The rise of China, the expansion of its global and regional spheres of influence, and the consequences for the United States have been causing heated discussions in Washington for a number of years. The first region where China challenged America's regional dominance was Southeast Asia. Over the past decade, there has been an intensification of China's political, trade and economic cooperation with ASEAN as a whole and with individual member states of this organization, a large-scale offensive of Chinese capital in the region, and an increase in the impact of China's "soft power". However, there are a number of circumstances that can hinder the process of expanding China's sphere of influence in Southeast Asia. One of the most serious is the territorial claims of China and individual ASEAN states to a number of islands and the waters of the South China Sea. If the situation is unfavorable for Beijing, these territorial disputes can undermine China's growing relations with the states of the region and significantly worsen the image of China that has been so long and diligently created. Even long before 2010, when the United States first declared the existence of national interests in the South China Sea, Beijing was concerned about the possible involvement of Washington in this knot of territorial contradictions, which, according to the Chinese authorities, seeks to limit the strengthening of China's regional positions. The ... Read more