Paracel & Spratly islands

Fishing

Natural gas

Marine passageway

Paracel

Islands

Spratly

Islands

Common Interests

(China, Philippines, Vietnam)

by

Overlapping claims

China's 9 Dash line Claim

United nations convention on the law of the sea

(UNCLOS)

EEZ (200 nautical miles)

Exclusive economic zone

The EEZ defines a country's sovereign rights to resource exploitation as extending as far as 200 nautical miles from the coastline and all recognized islands

Recent arbitration ruled some of China's islands as invalid for EEZ

rejection of recent Arbitration

“Any dispute between States Parties concerning the interpretation or application of this Convention may be submitted to the procedures provided for in this section only after local remedies have been exhausted where this is required by international law"

Philippines did not seek bilateral resolution before turning to the courts

Argument:

UNCLOS Article 295

China's Justification Cont.

Dashed lines were first established under the Guomindang government in 1947 as eleven dash line

Changed to nine dash line under communist governement

Even up until 1960's, no countries in the international community objected (Britain sent implied support of claims)

Dialogue began to change and claims began to tense upon discovery of natural resources

China's Strategy

Delay

Theoretically, territorial disputes are dealt with in 3 distinct ways

Escalation

Cooperation

China's strategy of delay

Defensive instead of offensive

Will only engage in bilateral talks

Works Cited

Ba, Alice D. "Staking Claims and Making Waves in the South China Sea: How Troubled Are the

      Waters?" Contemporary Southeast Asia: A Journal of International and Strategic Affairs 33.3                   (2011): Project MUSE. ISEAS Publishing, 2011. Web. 02 Sept. 2016.

Chang, Teh-Kuang. "China 's Claim of Sovereignty over Spratly and Paracel Islands: A

      Historical and Legal Perspective." Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law 23.3               (1991): 399-420. Web. 11 Oct. 2016.

Fravel, M. Taylor. "China’s Strategy in the South China Sea." Contemporary Southeast Asia 33.3

      (2011): 292-319. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.

Storey, Ian. "China's Bilateral Defense Diplomacy in Southeast Asia." Cooperation from

      Strength The United States, China and the South China Sea (2012): 53-64. Center for a New                   American Security, Jan. 2012. Web. 17 Oct. 2016.