Against the backdrop of increasingly complex South China Sea sovereignty disputes, relying solely on territorial claims or legal positions cannot fully explain the real logic of state behavior. This paper, based on the perspectives of “effective sovereignty” and “territorialization” in political geography, this paper systematically analyzes Malaysia’s territorialization process and strategies in the South China Sea. The research finds that Malaysia has not relied on high-intensity military confrontation or radical claims, but has transformed abstract sovereignty into operational spatial practices through island and reef construction, scientific research and tourism development, routine maritime law enforcement, blue economy development, and an institutionalized legal system. In this territorialization process, state authority has been embedded in administrative, economic, and ecological governance in a low-key, gradual manner. It has formed symbolic power through multi-language public opinion and cultural narratives, achieving both domestic ethnic integration and international image building. Malaysia’s practice of effective sovereignty demonstrates that medium-sized and small countries can maintain low-conflict and sustainable sovereignty operations in complex maritime disputes through multi-dimensional governance strategies that combine substantive and symbolic measures. This paper deepens understanding of the coupling between effective sovereignty construction and territorialization strategies in the South China Sea, systematically reveals the behavioral patterns of regional countries challenging China in the South China Sea, and provides a more moreprecise foundation for advancing China’s rights-protection actions in the region.

Political geographers have provided critical perspectives for deconstructing contemporary environmental crises. However, existing literature remains fragmented, necessitating systematic synthesis. Focusing on environmental studies in political geography, this paper conducts a scoping review of literature published in leading Chinese-and English-language geography journals, and aims to present major research themes and debates in the field. It conceptualizes the environment as a strategically contested object within the global system, an institutionally governed object at the national scale, and an arena of contestation and repoliticization in local politics. In doing so, it shows how different actors repeatedly redefine environmental elements across multiple scales, repositioning the environment from a material backdrop to an analytical object endowed with agency and political significance. The main findings are as follows: (1) At the global level, the contestation over discursive rules in climate negotiations, together with the territorial reconfiguration of critical resources, has collectively reshaped the North-South power structure. (2) At the national governance level, spatial politics and politics of visibility are mutually embedded, translating global pressures into differentiated governance realities and producing new inequalities between protection and sacrifice, as well as between the visible and the invisible. (3) At the local practice level, environmental politics exhibits a dual dynamic in which top-down structures are implemented and grounded while bottom-up contestation simultaneously emerges. The paper concludes that political geography’s contribution to environmental studies lies in its ability to grasp the structural roots of environmental crises through the interplay of power, justice, and spatiotemporality. It calls for future research to deepen the Sinicization of Western theories and to advance the application of interdisciplinary mixed-methods approaches.

As a key platform for academic exchanges, international conferences offer vital access to disciplinary frontiers. Amid the ongoing reshaping of global geopolitical landscapes, geopolitical issues have attracted widespread scholarly attention. This paper examines the Pre-conference and Annual Meeting of the Political Geography Specialty Group of the American Association of Geographers (AAG) 2025. Based on on-site conference observation and manual content analysis, it examines the sessions and presentations concerning geopolitics at the conferences. The results indicate that geopolitics has become an interdisciplinary research field beyond political geography, with China drawing notably greater academic attention than other regions. Conference discussions fall into five major themes: traditional geopolitics, critical geopolitics, geopolitical economy, energy and environmental geopolitics, and the theoretical construction of geopolitics. While research generally follows established paradigms, it has generated diverse new analytical perspectives, driven primarily by shifts in the international landscape and advances in digital technologies. For the sake of national security and sovereignty, Chinese scholars are advised to take two approaches. First, actively develop a non-Western geopolitical knowledge system to break Western discourse dominance. Second, deliver timely and robust empirical refutations against biased interpretations of China on core issues including territory, borders and infrastructure development. By clarifying academic stances, scholars can leverage professional expertise to safeguard China’s core national interests.