Disputes in the South China Sea
Author: Nandini Shrotriya
The South China and West Philippine Sea dispute is a disagreement regarding the overlapping of territorial claims between many countries; however, it primarily involves China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan. The conflict revolves around the control of maritime regions which are rich in natural resources and have vital shipping lanes, hence making it an incredibly important body of water. Hundreds of tiny islands within this region, whose ownerships are highly disputed between the countries listed above, make it a very complex and contentious territorial conflict in Asia.
The small islands in this sea region are important for two reasons: the first is to help validate the reason behind a country’s need to extend its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) under the “United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea”. The EEZ can extend up to 200 nautical meters around a nation’s territory if it does not collide with another’s EEZ – within a country, they are free to exploit its natural resources. The second is to build up military power to enforce territorial claims and restrict access to waters when needed; hence, the origin of the dispute between China and the Philippines can be dated back to China’s “Nine-dash Line” which claims 90 percent of the sea region overlapping with other countries’ EEZ, one of them being the West Philippine Sea.
The issue escalated in 2012 once China occupied a fishing ground claimed by the Philippines, Scarborough Shoal, and by 2016, the Philippines rejected China’s historical claims, which the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in favour of therefore affirming the Philippines’ EEZ rights. However, China rejected the ruling and continues to militarize artificial islands and engage in confrontational activities against Philippino fishing boats. As such, the tensions remain high between both countries with frequent encounters between Chinese and Philippine vessels.
