. For decades the situation over the disputed territories in the South China Sea has remained tense. Despite various options for solving the problem, the development of a common platform for the subsequent transfer of the conflict into the mainstream of a constructive solution did not happen so far. The remaining contradictions around the ownership of the Paracel Archipelago and the Spratly Islands between the direct participants in the protracted
conflict are dangerous because they bring dissonance into regional processes, and, taking into account the economic and strategic importance of the South China Sea, make it highly probable that it will become an object of an acute geopolitical confrontation. The article examines the history of the territorial dispute in the South China Sea through the
prism of the China’s and Vietnam’s interests. It contains the positions of the parties concerning the conflict as well as the bilateral confrontation and reflects the current state of the problem. The article is based on the analysis of previous researches and findings of Russian and foreign authors.