China has overlapping territorial disputes with every South China Sea claimant, each of which has a significantly smaller economy and military but is highly dependent on the Chinese market for trade. Littoral states such as the Philippineshave felt the sting of China's indirect economic sanctions in the past decade.
With no sovereignty disputes over islands or reefs in the energy-rich sea, Indonesia doesn't consider itself a claimant but is entitled to an exclusive economic zone, which is undercut by China's claim to almost the entire South China Sea as part of its sweeping "nine-dash line." Earlier this month, Reuters documented a months-long dispute between Jakarta and Beijing over Indonesia's oil and natural gas drilling in its EEZ.
