Territorial disputes in the South China Sea

Map of various countries' presence in the Spratly Islands as of 2015

Territorial disputes in the South China Sea involve conflicting island and maritime claims in the South China Sea by several sovereign states, namely the People's Republic of China (PRC), Taiwan (Republic of China/ROC), Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The disputes involve the islands, reefs, banks, and other features of the region, including the Spratly Islands, Paracel Islands, Scarborough Shoal, and various boundaries in the Gulf of Tonkin. The waters near the Indonesian Natuna Islands, which some regard as geographically part of the South China Sea, are disputed as well. Maritime disputes also extend beyond the South China Sea, as in the case of the Senkaku Islands and the Socotra Rock, which lie in the East China Sea.[1]

An estimated US$3.37 trillion worth of global trade passes through the South China Sea annually,[2] which accounts for a third of the global maritime trade.[3] 80 percent of China's energy imports and 39.5 percent of China's total trade passes through the South China Sea.[2] Claimant states are interested in retaining or acquiring the rights to fishing stocks, the exploration and potential exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in the seabed of various parts of the South China Sea, and the strategic control of important shipping lanes. Maritime security is also an issue, as the ongoing disputes present challenges for shipping.[4]

In 1932, France formally claimed both the Paracel and Spratly Islands.[5] China and Japan both protested. On 6 April 1933, France occupied the Spratlys, announced their annexation, and formally included them in French Indochina.[6][7]

In 1947, the Republic of China, the government of then China, announced the majority of the South China Sea was its territory. In 1949, the incoming government of China, which overthrew the Republic of China in the Chinese Civil War, announced that it had inherited this claim.[citation needed]

In 2013, the PRC began island building in the Spratly Islands and the Paracel Islands region.[8] During a Senate hearing in May 2015, then US Assistant Secretary of Defence, David Shear reported that in the Spratly Islands, Vietnam had established 48 outposts, the Philippines had eight, China had eight, Malaysia had five, and Taiwan had one. Shear also noted that from 2009 to 2014, Vietnam was the most active claimant in terms of both upgrading outposts and reclaiming land, with approximately 60 acres reclaimed.[9][10] According to Reuters, island building in the South China Sea, primarily by Vietnam and the Philippines, had been going on for decades on a small scale. And Vietnam, Taiwan, and the Philippines have all deployed military forces on some of their islands, but Vietnam has not stationed any troops on its floating artificial islands. While China had been late to the island-building game, its efforts had been on an unprecedented scale; from 2014 to 2016, it had constructed more new island surface than all other nations have constructed throughout history and (unlike the other claimants) had placed military equipment, at least for a brief period, on one of its artificial islands by 2016.[11] Also, a 2019 report from VOA that compared China and Vietnam's island building campaign in the South China Sea stated that the reason why Vietnam (compared to China) had been subject to little international criticism or support was because of the slower speed and widely perceived defensive nature of its island-building project.[12]

China's actions in the South China Sea have been described as part of its "salami slicing"/"cabbage wrapping" strategies.[13][14] Since 2015, the United States and other states such as France and the United Kingdom have conducted freedom of navigation operations (FONOP) in the region.[15] In July 2016, an arbitration tribunal constituted under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) ruled against the PRC's maritime claims in the South China Sea Arbitration.[16] The tribunal did not rule on the ownership of the islands or delimit maritime boundaries.[17][18] Both the People's Republic of China and Taiwan stated that they did not recognize the tribunal and insisted that the matter should be resolved through bilateral negotiations with other claimants.[19] In January 2022, the United States Department of State called China's claims in the South China Sea "unlawful."[20]

  1. ^ Keck, Zachary (20 March 2014). "China's Newest Maritime Dispute". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 28 February 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
    *Vaswani, Karishma (19 October 2014). "The sleepy island Indonesia is guarding from China". BBC. Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
    *R.C. Marshall, Andrew (25 August 2014). "Remote, gas-rich islands on Indonesia's South China Sea frontline". Reuters. Archived from the original on 12 February 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  2. ^ a b "How much trade transits the South China Sea?". China Power. Center for Strategic and International Studies. 2 August 2017. Archived from the original on 8 June 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  3. ^ "Review of Maritime Transport 2018" (PDF). United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. New York. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 June 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  4. ^ Maritime Security – A comprehensive Guide for Shipowners, Seafarers and Administrations. Livingston: Witherby Publishing Group and the International Chamber of Shipping. 2021. p. 13. ISBN 9781913997014.
  5. ^ Spratly Islands Archived 29 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine[full citation needed], Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2008 Archived 31 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine. All Rights Reserved.
  6. ^ Stein Tonnesson, International Peace Research Institute, Oslo, The South China Sea in the Age of European Decline Archived March 5, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, pp. 2–4, 12, 40–41, Modern Asian Studies, Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom, 2006. Retrieved 2009-4-13.
  7. ^ Binoche, Jacques (1990). "La politique extrême-orientale française et les relations franco-japonaises de 1919 à 1939". Publications de la Société française d'histoire des outre-mers. 10 (1): 263–275.
  8. ^ "China Island Tracker". Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. Center for Strategic and International Studies. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  9. ^ Xu, Qinduo (20 May 2015). "Exposing US hypocrisy on South China Sea island reclamation". The Conversation. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  10. ^ "Statement of david shear" (PDF).
  11. ^ Johnson, William (11 May 2016). "Everything you need to know about the South China Sea conflict – in under five minutes". Reuters. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  12. ^ "Vietnam Quietly Builds Up 10 Islands in South China Sea". Voice of America. April 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  13. ^ Chatterji, SK (22 October 2020). "Wider connotations of Chinese 'salami slicing'". Asia Times. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  14. ^ "China's Expanding Cabbage Strategy". The Diplomat. 29 October 2014.
  15. ^ Freund, Eleanor. "Freedom of Navigation in the South China Sea: A Practical Guide". Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  16. ^ The South China Sea Arbitration (The Republic of the Philippines v. The People's Republic of China) Permanent Court of Arbitration, Archived 12 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine, 12 July 2016
  17. ^ "PCA Press Release: The South China Sea Arbitration (The Republic of the Philippines v. The People's Republic of China) | PCA-CPA". Permanent Court of Arbitration. Archived from the original on 12 July 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  18. ^ Perlez, Jane (12 July 2016). "Tribunal Rejects Beijing's Claims in South China Sea". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 13 July 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  19. ^ David Tweed; Ting Shi (12 July 2016). "China's South China Sea Claims Dashed by Hague Court Ruling". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 20 November 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  20. ^ "US report finds Beijing 'unlawfully claims sovereignty' in South China Sea". Hong Kong Free Press. 13 January 2022.

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