Posted: November 28th, 2023

Analysis of Maritime Disputes in the South China Sea and Their Impact on Regional Security

Analysis of Maritime Disputes in the South China Sea and Their Impact on Regional Security

The South China Sea (SCS) is a semi-enclosed sea that covers an area of about 3.5 million square kilometers and contains some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, rich fishing grounds, and vast natural resources. It is also a region of complex and overlapping territorial and maritime claims by six states: China, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei. These claims have been the source of frequent tensions and disputes in the past decades, especially since China began to assert its sovereignty over most of the SCS through its nine-dash line claim and its extensive land reclamation and militarization activities on artificial islands it has built in disputed waters. The SCS disputes pose significant challenges to regional security and stability, as well as to the international rules-based order that governs the use of the sea.

This paper aims to analyze the causes, dynamics, and impacts of the SCS disputes from a multidimensional perspective. It will first provide a historical overview of the evolution of the claims and the disputes in the SCS, highlighting the main actors, interests, and positions involved. It will then examine the legal aspects of the disputes, focusing on the relevant provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 2016: 2024 – Do my homework – Help write my assignment online ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in the case initiated by the Philippines against China. It will also discuss the political, economic, environmental, and security implications of the disputes for the claimant states, as well as for other regional and global stakeholders, such as ASEAN, the United States, Japan, India, and Australia. Finally, it will explore the prospects and challenges for managing and resolving the disputes through diplomatic, legal, and cooperative mechanisms.

Historical Background

The SCS disputes have their roots in the colonial era, when European powers began to explore and exploit the region’s resources and establish their presence and influence. The first recorded claim to any feature in the SCS was made by France in 1933, when it occupied nine islands in the Spratly group on behalf of its colony Vietnam. China protested this move but did not take any action to assert its own claim until 1946, when it sent a naval expedition to take control of some islands in both the Paracel and Spratly groups. Taiwan followed suit in 1947 by publishing a map that showed an eleven-dash line enclosing most of the SCS as part of its territory. This line was later reduced to nine dashes by China in 1953 after it ceded two segments to Vietnam.

The claims of other states emerged after World War II, when they gained independence from colonial rule and sought to assert their sovereignty and jurisdiction over their maritime zones. The Philippines claimed part of the Spratly group in 1956 based on its proximity and historical discovery. Malaysia claimed part of the Spratly group in 1979 based on its continental shelf extension. Brunei claimed a small area in the southern Spratly group in 1984 based on its exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Vietnam claimed all of the Paracel and Spratly groups in 1974 based on its historical rights and succession from France.

The disputes intensified in the 1970s and 1980s, when several factors increased the strategic and economic value of the SCS. These factors included: (1) The discovery of potential oil and gas reserves in the seabed; (2) The entry into force of UNCLOS in 1982, which provided a legal framework for defining maritime zones and rights; (3) The end of the Cold War, which reduced the external security threats and increased the internal nationalism and competition among regional states; (4) The rise of China as a major economic and military power, which enhanced its capabilities and ambitions to pursue its interests in the SCS.

Since then, there have been several incidents and clashes among claimant states over disputed features or waters in
the SCS. Some notable examples are:

– The 1974 Battle of the Paracel Islands between China and South Vietnam, which resulted in China’s occupation of
the entire group;
– The 1988 Johnson South Reef Skirmish between China and Vietnam, which resulted in China’s occupation of several reefs in
the Spratly group;
– The 1995 Mischief Reef Incident between China and
the Philippines, which resulted in China’s construction of structures on a reef claimed by
the Philippines;
– The 2014: 2024 – Essay Writing Service. Custom Essay Services Cheap Scarborough Shoal Standoff between China
and
the Philippines,
which resulted
in China’s effective control
of
a shoal claimed by
the Philippines;
– The 2014: 2024 – Essay Writing Service | Write My Essay For Me Without Delay Haiyang Shiyou 981 Oil Rig Crisis between China
and Vietnam,
which resulted
in a tense confrontation over China’s deployment
of
an oil rig near the Paracel Islands;
– The 2019: 2024 – Online Assignment Homework Writing Help Service By Expert Research Writers Reed Bank Incident between China and the Philippines, which resulted in a Chinese vessel ramming and sinking a Filipino fishing boat near a gas-rich area claimed by the Philippines.

Legal Aspects

The legal aspects of the SCS disputes involve two main issues: (1) The validity and scope of the territorial and maritime claims; (2) The interpretation and application of UNCLOS and other relevant international laws and norms.

The first issue is complicated by the lack of clarity and consistency in the basis, evidence, and extent of the claims. For instance, China’s nine-dash line claim is ambiguous and vague, as it does not specify the coordinates or the legal status of the line or the waters within it. China has also not clarified whether it claims sovereignty over all or some of the features within the line, or whether it claims historic rights over the waters within the line. Moreover, China’s claim is inconsistent with UNCLOS, which does not recognize historic rights as a basis for maritime entitlements, and which limits the maximum breadth of territorial sea to 12 nautical miles (nm), EEZ to 200 nm, and continental shelf to 350 nm from the baselines. Similarly, other claimant states have not clearly defined or delimited their baselines, territorial sea, EEZ, and continental shelf in accordance with UNCLOS, which creates overlaps and uncertainties in their maritime claims.

The second issue is contentious because of the different interpretations and applications of UNCLOS and other relevant international laws and norms by claimant states. For example, there is a dispute over the legal status and entitlements of the features in the SCS, which depend on whether they are classified as islands, rocks, low-tide elevations, or submerged features under UNCLOS. Islands are naturally formed areas of land that are above water at high tide and can sustain human habitation or economic life of their own. They are entitled to a territorial sea, an EEZ, and a continental shelf. Rocks are naturally formed areas of land that are above water at high tide but cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own. They are entitled to a territorial sea but not to an EEZ or a continental shelf. Low-tide elevations are naturally formed areas of land that are above water at low tide but submerged at high tide. They are not entitled to any maritime zones of their own but may be used as basepoints for measuring the breadth of the territorial sea if they are within 12 nm from the coast. Submerged features are naturally formed areas of land that are permanently submerged. They are not entitled to any maritime zones of their own and do not affect the delimitation of maritime boundaries.

However, claimant states have different views on how to apply these criteria to the features in the SCS, especially in the Spratly group, which consists of more than 100 features, most of which are low-tide elevations or submerged features. China, Taiwan, and Vietnam claim that all of the features in the Spratly group are islands entitled to full maritime zones. The Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei claim that only some of
the features in
the Spratly group are islands or rocks entitled to limited maritime zones.

Another example of legal dispute is over
the rights and obligations
of
states in
the SCS,
which depend on whether they are coastal states,
archipelagic states,
or user states under UNCLOS.
Coastal states have sovereignty over their territorial sea,
sovereign rights over their EEZ
and continental shelf,
and jurisdiction over certain activities in these zones,
such as fishing,
exploration,
and exploitation
of
natural resources,
and environmental protection.
Archipelagic states are composed
of
one or more archipelagos,
which are groups
of
islands
and interconnecting waters that form an intrinsic geographical,
economic,
and political entity.
They have sovereignty over their archipelagic waters,
which are enclosed by archipelagic baselines drawn around
the outermost points
of
the archipelago.
They also have sovereign rights and jurisdiction over their EEZ
and continental shelf.
User states have rights
of
innocent passage through
the territorial sea,
transit passage through straits used for international navigation,
and archipelagic sea lanes passage through designated routes in archipelagic waters.
They also have freedoms
of
navigation,
overflight,
fishing,
and laying submarine cables and pipelines in
the high seas,
which are areas beyond national jurisdiction.

However, claimant states have different views on how to balance these rights and obligations in the SCS, especially in relation to China’s nine-dash line claim and its activities on artificial islands. China asserts that its nine-dash line claim is based on historic rights that predate UNCLOS and that it has indisputable sovereignty over all features and waters within it. China also argues that its activities on artificial islands are

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